While You Loved Me
by Penguinlet
Summary: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Or Zutara.
1. Chapter 1: The Alternative

**The Day You Kissed Me**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, because if I did, Appa toys would flood the world. The title of the fic is also not of my creation, it's a song by a wonderful country group called Rascal Flatts._

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**Chapter 1: The Alternative**

"Pleeeease, Momo! Please! Just one bite!" Sokka begged the large-eared lemur as the two scampered around and around the small camp area. "I shouldn't even be begging you; it was mine to begin with!"

Momo _sqrrrrr_-ed and raced up a nearby tree. Safely out of Sokka's yearning grasp, the fuzzy lemur began sorting out his small cache of ripe fruits, fruits that Sokka had gathered earlier in the afternoon but left unguarded for one crucial second. Sokka slumped at the base of the tree. "They were _mine_," he whined.

"Oh come on, Sokka," Katara said. "We have another basket of them. All right, Aang, try that again."

Aang stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he strained to bend the water from the small creek on the side of their campground as Sokka muttered, "But they were my special fruits…I was _saving_ them."

The young Avatar swirled his hands together and back, together and back, as the water floating before him coalesced into a smooth sphere. Ice began creeping from the edges of the water towards the center of the sphere, crackling as it went. A fine sheen of sweat was already filming Aang's face, and from the looks of it, he would be sweating much more before the bending lesson was over for the evening. With a grunt of effort, the ball of water froze with a final _CRACK_! and remained floating in front of the Avatar, who grinned widely at his achievement. "Hey look! I did it!"

"Good job, Aang!" Katara congratulated him. "Now, keep your left hand outstretched, holding the ice up, and with your right, try to shave disks of it off. Don't think about throwing any of the disks yet, let's just get you to make them."

The ball of ice dipped momentarily as Aang shifted his concentration to the new task. His right hand came back and sliced forward, and a neat disk of ice broke off from the floating sphere and fell to the ground, breaking into small chunks. "Woo!" Aang exulted.

Unfortunately, at that very moment Sokka decided to throw a pebble at Momo in a last-ditch effort to recover his stolen treasure, and Momo in retaliation leapt off the branch he was perched on and onto Sokka's head. This unexpected move drove Sokka backwards and into Aang, who lost his concentration and dropped the iceball. "AGAH YEGG BLUH!" Sokka yelled in surprise.

_Snrroq_! Momo replied. With perfect precision, he launched off of Sokka's head and back onto the branch. His work was done.

"Aww…I was just getting it too," Aang lamented.

"Sorry Aang," Sokka apologized. "Hey! Don't think I don't see you up there! This isn't over! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!" he ranted back up to Momo, sequestered safely in the tree.

"It's okay, Aang." Katara soothed. "You were doing well, and with some more practice, we can begin throwing the ice disks at targets. Now let's try the freezing and slicing move again before we go to bed tonight."

* * *

Meanwhile, an iron ship emblazoned with the Fire Navy symbol dropped anchor in a small cove not too far from where the Avatar and his friends were camping for the night. Onboard, Fire Prince Zuko studied a map studded with pins indicating the Avatar's last stops. His fist clenched in a sudden bout of frustration. _HOW does that accursed Avatar always slip out of my grasp? _His thoughts were interrupted by his uncle's entrance. "Prince Zuko, it's late," Uncle Iroh yawned. "Yep, a man needs his rest." 

"Uncle, I cannot sleep, knowing that each and every time I come close to having the Avatar, he manages to escape!"

Iroh sighed. "You must sleep still. What good would it be if we came across the Avatar and you were too exhausted to fight him? Rest keeps the body working, keeps the fire burning strong inside."

"My fire, even if it were in perfect working order, has not yet managed to retain him for long. It's always something! He always manages to escape; his Avatar Spirit incapacitates my men or he gets help from the spirit world, or his little friends come to his rescue…those Water peasants, even that monstrous airbison of his!"

Iroh knew there was no reasoning with his nephew when he got like this. He decided to humor Zuko for the moment. "That bison of his is rather impressive, I would say. I wish I could fly on him."

"Uncle! That's not helping!"

"I'm sorry, Nephew," Iroh paused. "Have you considered striking at the Avatar's weaknesses, instead of attacking him directly? The termite does not bring down a house by battering it head-on, but rather by eliminating its supports."

A vein throbbed in the prince's temple. "What am I supposed to do? Kidnap his companions?"

"Perhaps if you held one of them ransom, the Avatar would come willingly."

"But how? How do I get one of them? Lay out a custard tart trail leading into the jail cells of our ship? The girl is a skilled Waterbender now; I have even heard rumors that she may be a Master already, the youngest in memory. To capture her would initiate a fight that would take a considerable amount of my energy, I am ashamed to admit, and then I would be in poor shape to take the Avatar then."

"The boy then?"

Zuko considered. "Perhaps. Neither of them would be easy to procure, however. It appears we have limited options."

Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Although…although there may be an alternative."

"Who?"

The old general smiled softly. "We need someone close to the Avatar, someone relatively easy to lure into a trap. You said it yourself, the Avatar is always being rescued by his friends: the girl, her brother, and…"

A light ignited in Zuko's eyes. "_His bison._"

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**A/N: **All right, so I'm completely new to the fanfic world, and I mean COMPLETELY. My sister had to tell me my first story was called a one-shot and I had to have my apartment-mate give me a rundown on all of those funky acronyms and fanfic jargon. Please drop me a message to let me know what you think of my writing, any typos or incongruities with the series it may have, or just to say hi! 

All right, before y'all go "WTF is this like, Zutappa or something?" (Zuko + Katara + Appa; oh lordy, what a thought…shudder), it's not. I'm not into bestiality. I leave that to others. I got a little bit of silly action planned before we get to the good stuff (c'mon, you know you read these just for the sappy stuff), and Appa is my absolute favorite and a major contributing factor to my addiction to _Avatar_. Eee, fuzzy things.

Anyhow, things will pick up, so come back soon! I'll have tacos!


	2. Chapter 2: The Pain

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, because if I did, Zuko wouldn't have a lisp.

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**Chapter 2: The Pain**

"Uncle, are you sure this is going to work?" Zuko looked dubiously at the shaggy pile in front of him.

"Yes, yes, I looked it up in all of my scrolls and this is very much what a female bison looks like."

Zuko raised a skeptical eyebrow at his uncle. The pair had worked long and hard through the night on their project, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. For Zuko, his energy came from the hope that their plan would work and he would finally have his honor restored; for Iroh, arts-and-craft time always refreshed his senses. Uncle and nephew, powered with their respective motivations and even a little of Iroh's favorite ginseng tea, had completed their work near dawn.

A massive, woolly, six-legged pile slumped messily on the main deck of Zuko's ship. Crafted out of Earth Kingdom sheepskin, hay, and wood, the "female bison" was held up by a skeleton framework of lumber and covered by the sheepskin-and-hay "hide". The monstrosity had the broad paddle-tail (Zuko sacrificed a tapestry from his room), "horns" (two Sungi-horn players for Iroh's Music Night would have to find themselves new instruments soon), and arrow markings (taro root juice personally finger-painted gleefully by the retired General) characteristic of the practically-extinct species. Two spheres of paper with a dot of black ink each served as eyes.

Inside, a small seat jutted out of the woodwork where a real bison's first stomach would be, allowing one person to hide inside. A system of ropes and pulleys snaked from the jaw hinges, ear flaps, and each leg towards the seat, where one could manipulate the controls to move the bison. Iroh had added the rope system, in spite of his nephew's protests, to "make her seem sassier!"

Uncle Iroh looked at the blueprints the two had painstakingly drawn up, and then at their creation. Somehow, things always look better on paper...oh well, there was no use crying over spilt tea. He noted his nephew's skeptical facial expression. "Desperate times call for desperate actions, Prince Zuko."

Zuko's gaze lingered on the bison decoy's eyes. One of the pupils was accidentally painted slightly off-center, giving the viewer a sense that this poor bison was a little lazy-eyed. "I agree Uncle, but I'll have to say that the Avatar's beast will have to be extremely desperate to fall for _her_."

"He's the last of his kind; he must be lonely."

"Ah well, yes, I suppose."

"She needs a name!" Uncle Iroh exclaimed cheerfully. The decoy was no beauty, but it had been a long time since he had worked on his sculpting skills and Iroh was still proud of his work.

"_A name_! This is a decoy Uncle, not your new pet!"

"Didn't you ever hear that it is bad luck to have a ship without a name? Well she's almost as big as a scout boat! Besides…she's art! You cannot have an untitled art piece! Except for maybe 'Untitled,' but how sad would that be?"

Zuko's left eye decided it would be a good time to develop a twitch. The decoy, with her googly eyes, patchy coat, and general ragtag appearance could hardly be called "art." He examined the decoy's face again; a discrepancy in carpentry prevented the jaw from closing completely. _She looks a few antennae short of a Flying Chon-giraffe._ "Bison's Worst Nightmare?" he suggested.

"No, no. She deserves a real name!" Iroh paused. "Nekko!"

"No, Uncle."

"Mei Li!"

"No."

"Joi!"

"No."

"Zongzi?"

"Isn't that something the cook makes every Autumn Festival?"

"I've got it!" Iroh spread his hands in triumph. "I christen you, dear bison decoy, Keeli!"

Zuko sighed. Well, his uncle had helped him greatly; letting him name their project wasn't a big deal. However, _time_ was a big deal, and it was important to put his plan into action as soon as possible. They had to find the Avatar, keep him and his companions from noticing their approach, and set up their trap. Fortunately, recent reports had indicated that the Avatar was headed south, along the coast of the Earth Kingdom, and would probably stop at the Earth city of Omashu to visit and possibly learn from King Bumi. He couldn't have had more than a day's head start ahead of Zuko's ship. _The Avatar _will_ be found.

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"Mmm hmm hmm, doobedoo…" Sokka hummed to himself as he combed the bushes where he had found a new, succulent berry. He had to harvest the precious berries before Momo discovered them and stuffed them all into his cheek pouches. _Oh delicious berries…you deserve to be with someone who appreciates you for your juicy sweetness, not that greedy lemur who would just gobble you up, not taking the time to savor your delectable innards. You must come with meee. _

A rustle sounded in the bushes nearby. Sokka stiffened. Was it Momo, come to pillage his valuable berry stash? "That monkey's getting what's coming to him," Sokka muttered under his breath. "Stupid Momo, always taking my food."

He pulled a small net used for fishing out of a pocket in his parka and crouched down in the bushes. _Hoo boy, will that critter get the scare of his life! Maybe he'll stop taking my things!_ The rustling came closer, accompanied by a few snaps of twigs being broken. _Rustle rustle…crunch…_ The noise approached until it stopped a few feet away from Sokka's hiding place, where the source of the noise had presumably noticed the gleaming pink berries and was now hoarding them in his greedy little lemur cheeks.

"GWAAAR!" Sokka bellowed as he lunged out, snapping the net forward to have it wrap around…

…the head of a startled (and quickly afterwards, grumpy) Fire Nation soldier. "Urk," Sokka squeaked. "Um…sorry?"

He bolted.

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_SHRRRK! SHRK SHRK SHRK! _Circular blades of ice, deadly in their frozen edges and frightful speed, flew off of the rapidly-diminishing sphere of ice in front of the Avatar and embedded themselves into a tree, several hundred paces off. With a quick swipe, the young boy melted the remaining hemisphere of ice and threw it forwards, refreezing the flying water right before it hit the tree trunk in pointed daggers of ice.

"_Nice_ work, Aang!" Katara applauded. "Where'd you get the idea for that last bit?"

Aang rubbed his head, pleased at his teacher's praise. "I dunno, it just came to me."

"Well whatever it was, it was nea-"

Katara was cut off by a far-off wailing that drew increasingly closer. "KataraaaAAAA! AAAAAANG!"

Aang grabbed his staff. "Sounds like Sokka!"

Indeed, Sokka burst into the campsite at that very moment. "GUH…bluh…F-fff-fire Nation! C-coming this w-way!"

"What did you _do_! I told you to stay close!" Katara yelled at her brother.

"I…I…there were these berries! And, and..I…bluh!" Sokka sputtered, still trying to catch his breath.

"Guys! This is no time to argue! Let's get moving!" Aang reprimanded as he fumbled through his pockets for his bison whistle. "Grab our sleeping sacks and let's get outta here!"

Aang blew on the whistle as Sokka and Katara scrambled for their belongings. With a low _GRRUMPH!_ the last flying bison lumbered into the clearing, Momo perched on his head. The trio threw themselves into the saddle and with a resounding "Yip yip!" from Aang, they took to the skies.

Just then, dozens of Fire Nation soldiers poured into campsite, led by Prince Zuko. Zuko spotted Appa, still in the laborious task of gaining altitude, and yelled, "STOP THEM!"

Fire began raining to the sky, heating the air and making it difficult to see through the smoke. Aang leapt from his place on Appa's head to the base of his tail and let loose a powerful blast of wind that knocked the fireballs back to the ground and cleared some of the smoke. In desperation, Zuko breathed in deeply and launched a particularly scorching attack on the bison's rapidly ascending form.

_NWARRGH!_ Appa groaned. Zuko blinked; his uncle's advice about firebending and breath had paid off. The beast's tail was scorched badly, and the giant bison rocked unsteadily in the air with the loss of his rudder. He dipped, and began to plummet towards the ground.

"Aang, do something!" Katara yelled.

"I can't! We have to land!" Aang called back. "Are you okay, buddy?"

Appa moaned, a heartbreaking sound of pain and fury at the Scarred One, the one who was always after his human friends and who had burned him just now.

"Don't worry Appa," Aang stroked one gargantuan ear. "Just find a way to land and Katara will heal you. Katara, can you heal him?"

Katara nodded. _Appa must be hurt bad_, she thought. They were dropping towards the ground at a terrifying velocity. The land rushed up to them in a dizzying spin, and just as Katara thought she was going to be sick, Appa thudded to a jarring stop on the ground and rolled over, lowing in distress.

The riders jumped off of their wounded companion and crowded around his burnt tail. Katara, wasting no time, pulled water from her canteen and began to cover Appa's tail in its soothing coolness. "There isn't enough! The stream we camped by can't be far, someone please go get another canteenful!"

"I'm on it!" Aang dashed into the woods.

"It's okay, Appa, it's okay," Katara soothed. "Shh…I'm trying…oh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you got hurt helping us!"

Appa could only groan some more, shifting his weight in discomfort. He knew the girl would help him, make the hurt go away so he could fly some more, keep his human friends safe. He let out a huge sigh. His friends…his human friends. They were all he had, save the small lemur that made Appa chuckle when he fought with the human Water boy. There had been a time, long ago, when Appa had many friends, human and not. When he had lived with Aang in the Air temples, there had been many bison friends to play with. They would fly together, soaring through the air in astounding acrobatics, or spend many a happy hour munching on the savory clovers that grew in patches on the mountaintops.

Appa blinked one pain-hazed eye. As much as he loved his human friends and the lemur, he missed his own kind. He missed seeing his other six-legged brethren, hearing their contented lowing as they roamed the land, cuddling with other large, warm bodies in the cold of the night. He understood that his primary allegiance would always be to his bald, orange-garbed human, but he missed the companionship of his own kind. He missed knowing that he wasn't alone, but now he was, in a sense no one could understand.

The bald human child, he still had other humans. Appa did not. He was the last of his species, the last airbison.

"Got it!" Aang rushed back. "Hurry Katara, Appa looks like he's in a lot of pain!"

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As Katara began healing his tail, Appa closed his eyes. Pain. Physical yes, but more than that. Appa hurt inside, too.

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"We have him, Uncle." Zuko gloated. "He couldn't have landed far from here." 

Iroh stroked his beard. He secretly hoped the bison was okay. It was one thing to capture the Avatar, but hurting such a magnificent creature to do so? He knew his nephew would only explode in anger if he let his feelings about the bison show, so he kept his thoughts to himself. "Shall we prepare then?"

Zuko was practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes. Bring out the dec- Keeli. Send the men to the closest patch of open grass."

His golden eyes gleamed. "Bison, let's see if you can escape _this_."

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**A/N: **Aiee! What's going to happen? Poor Appa.

Thanks for the reviews everyone, you don't know how squee-ful and encouraging it is to have all these happy little comments pop up in my inbox. Maybe you do. Either way, I really appreciate it!

And now, TO THE SYMPHONY! bellows Beethoven's _5th_


	3. Chapter 3: The Courtship

**Yes, the fic was previously titled "The Day You Kissed Me," but I scrapped that because A) I checked my iTunes and realized the song was "While You Loved Me" and B) it was just so darn dorky.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, because if I did, Season Two WOULD BE OUT ALREADY. (rants)_

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**Chapter 3: The Courtship**

"Uncle? Are you absolutely _positive_ there is no one else on the ship who can fit in here?" came a muffled voice from somewhere within the fuzzy mass sitting placidly before General Iroh.

The old man smirked quietly to himself. Of course the Fire Prince would not be the smallest man onboard, but he didn't have to know that. It was about time the Prince got out and did some outrageous stunts instead of huddling in his room all of the time, plotting the Avatar's demise. _This is the stuff a teenager should do! Why in my day…_

"Uncle!" Zuko sounded slightly panicked and definitely cross. "I can't breathe too well in here!"

Iroh shook himself out of pleasant reveries of days past. "Ah, forgive me Nephew. I was just…got a little…there was the time…oh, here."

A quick, discreet slash from a ceremonial dagger that hung from his belt solved that particular problem. Iroh surveyed the scene before him again. He and Zuko were in a pleasant little meadow close to the scouts' reports of the Avatar's emergency landing area. Buttercups and tall grasses carpeted the ground and a creek (which Aang had visited with his canteen earlier) burbled happily under blue skies. With considerable effort and severely puzzled looks from the soldiers who had helped, Keeli had been relocated to the sunniest spot in the meadow, where the bison would surely not miss her.

After failed attempts by Iroh and the accompanying soldiers to fit inside the only passageway to Keeli's internal space, it was regretfully concluded by the old man that an engineering oversight had limited the decoy bison to accommodate someone smaller than a full-grown adult…a teenager, then. "Why, that would be _you_, Prince Zuko."

The Prince had been most belligerent. "I AM NOT A TEENAGER!"

But daylight was burning, and the fact was that Zuko did not have Iroh's tea-belly or the other men's fully-developed shoulders. Begrudgingly, he had crawled inside and now sat on the wooden bench, sweltering under Keeli's thick, furry coat.

"If there is nothing else Prince Zuko, we will retreat to our ambush spot now." Iroh called gaily.

An indignant huff, barely audible through Keeli's hide, was heard. Iroh chuckled and headed off with his men.

* * *

"There. How's that, Appa?" Katara wiped her sweaty brow and brushed a stray strand of chestnut hair back. 

_Grummph._ Appa licked the Water Master's entire left side in gratitude. She was so kind.

The girl giggled and stood up, feeling her spine pop and crack from being locked in a crouching position for so long. "Good. Still, we've got to get going soon. The Fire Nation must be looking for us."

Aang looked over from his perch on a nearby boulder. "Can you fly, Appa buddy?"

_Nrrrg._ The airbison waggled his tail experimentally. It throbbed a bit, but so long as the winds stayed down and there were no more searing attacks from scarred, irate, nearly-bald humans, he could manage. He just needed a quick bite to eat and a long drink, and he'd be ready.

"Sure thing. There was a nice patch of grass back there where I got the water. Why don't you try there," Aang suggested.

Appa snorted and moved off in the direction Aang had indicated. As he ambled through the trees, his thoughts once again turned to his long-gone bison brethren. Two-leggers were so capricious and unpredictable, he mused. They could be as thoughtful and caring as his companions or as destructive and volatile as the flame-throwing Scarred One. They were not like his kind, who, as a species, was innately imperturbable and steadfast, unruffled and patient. Appa's people lived as resolute anchors in a world that was as turbulent and amorphous as the element the bison embodied.

When Appa had been asked by the Air monks to be the guardian and companion of the Avatar, he had readily agreed to the honor. It was a mark of great confidence and trust in his character. If only he had known that the price to pay was to be left as the last airbison in existence…

A few more steps brought Appa to the edge of the meadow Aang had described. Eagerly, he shuffled to the creek to drink. _Slurrrrpf._ _Slup slup spuffffflurpp._

Thirst sated, Appa lifted his dripping chin and began searching for a filling snack to power him through the skies. His gaze panned over the open expanse…and landed on a shaggy hulk parked about five lemur-hops before him. Whuh?

Zuko's eyes, on the verge of closing, had snapped open when the Avatar's beast had begun drinking noisily from the brook. _There's no way it could miss me._

Appa was confused. For a moment, what with the bright sunlight and the recent ordeal of having his tail badly burnt, it had seemed like…no. It was impossible. When they had flown to the Southern Air Temple at the beginning of their journey to the North Pole, it had been unfortunately established that all of the Airpeople – human, bison, and lemur – save those in the Avatar's company were gone. And yet…

Through the slit Uncle Iroh had cut on Keeli's hind flank, Zuko could see that the great creature had taken one hesitant step forwards, towards him. His men had predicted wrongly, projecting that the bison would be approaching from the east, so now Keeli's rump faced the puzzled target instead of her head. Maybe it was just as well, considering her lazy eye and slack jaw…

Appa inched forward another step. He lifted his snout and scented the wind. No, there was no trace of the distinctive musk that would surely be hanging in the air if the object before him were a real bison, musk that would smell so sweet to his aching loneliness. His ears drooped. Someone must have tried his hand at sculpting and from the looks of it, was better off picking up a different hobby. Appa turned to go, all thoughts of food forgotten in his roller-coaster moment of wild hope and crestfallen disappointment.

_No! I _knew _this wouldn't work! What was I thinking?_ Zuko gritted his teeth. "There must be some way…I've spent too much time on this, and the Avatar is so close. Maybe if the beast just gets curious enough…"

He reached up and pulled the nearest rope.

The movement caught Appa's eye again. By daffodils, what was happ – that thing's alive! But why was it just flapping its ear up and down? Was it hurt?

With an inquisitive snort, Appa drew a few steps closer.

_I got its attention! Maybe it really _does_ think Keeli's real!_ Zuko reached for a few more ropes. There were eight in total, one for each leg and ear. Unfortunately, the Fire Prince only had four appendages. Oh well, there would be no award for "Best Female Airbison Imitation" at this year's Fire Nation Dance and Theater Festival anyways. Zuko wrapped a rope around each of his arms and legs and began yanking on them, sometimes alternating his motions. _I look so stupid._

Appa was becoming increasingly alarmed. The poor thing must be injured! Perhaps a stray shot from one of the red-garbed humans had hit it.

The being, whatever it was, twitched spasmodically before him. Both of its hind legs and one middle leg were jerking in pain and it continued flapping its left ear. Appa made a friendly grunt towards the pitiful creature. Do you need help? I have a friend who can heal you!

Zuko was enthralled by his success. He cupped a hand to his mouth and tried his best to lure the beast further. "Aroohoo!" he warbled.

Immediately, he slapped his palm to his forehead. _Aroohoo? _Keeli needed to sound coy and attractive, not sick to the stomach and possibly in labor. He wracked his brain, trying to recall a noise, any noise, that he might have heard in his encounters with the bison. Zuko increased the tempo and intensity of the rope tugs. "Wrrmph? GWOO!"

Oh no! The poor thing was flailing in its death throes! Appa briefly considered galloping back to his humans and fetching the Water girl; she might be able to save it. But no, from the looks and sounds of it, there was no time left, and it would be cruel to leave the creature in its final moments of life. Appa began to approach steadily, hoping that he could possibly offer some comfort before the pathetic animal passed on.

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"What is my nephew doing?" Iroh poked his head out of his hiding place to peer in consternation at the thrashing bison decoy. The real bison was advancing, cautiously but determinedly. Iroh was no expert on bison behavior, but it didn't look like the Avatar's steed was so much as romantically interested in Keeli as concerned for her general wellbeing. "Maybe I dozed off on the scroll that described bison mating rituals."

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There actually _was_ a rather beautiful courtship ritual for the airbison, but it did not even remotely crop up in Appa's mind as he drew closer. It was sad, really, that this floundering animal was dying. In a way, Appa felt a kinship with it; it bore some faint resemblance to his own kind with its size, six legs, and rudimentary fur pattern. Perhaps it's a distantly related subspecies of airbison? he wondered absently. 

Zuko's arms and legs were getting tired. The beast was very close now; the Prince hoped his uncle and men were ready to ambush it. Since his vocalizations had obviously helped in luring the furry monster, he tried some more. "BRRAG! BLUH! GABLUDABADABUH!"

Appa wished he could understand what the creature was saying. He thought he recognized a bit of what it was calling, but it made no sense: "Bananas? There slaps dough up mountainslope! MY SLICE! WOODEN! RATTLECOTTONWHOOPINGHORNS!"

Suddenly, he stopped. There was an odd scent in the air which got stronger as he approached the dying thing. Appa had chalked it up to the foreign animal's panic, assuming it was probably some sort of secretion emitted due to its agonizing death. With a start, he realized it wasn't the animal's pain and fear that hung heavy in the air, but the smell of fire and human.

Appa had smelled such an odor before. It was present every time his friends were attacked, every time there was a battle, every time someone was burned and hurt

In particular, it was the smell that had roared into the air after him just a short while ago, a distinctive scent belonging to one particular human. The angry, scarred human boy who he held associated with the attack on the Airpeople, the extinction of his race, the injuries of his human friends, and the searing sensation that had scorched his beautiful, broad tail.

With a bellow, Appa recognized that somehow the creature before him was that hateful human. How he became to be in such a state did not concern Appa. With an infuriated swipe of his foreleg, the placid tranquility that usually reigned in the bison's mind was ripped to shreds and a livid, crimson rage took over. This human had hurt him, had hurt his friends, _had killed his people_.

Appa roared again, and charged.

* * *

"Where's Appa?" Sokka whined. "You'd think he'd remember to come back for us, we being the one who saved his tail. Literally." 

"_We_? Excuse me, I do believe _Aang_ helped Appa land, and _I _healed him. You just squeezed the living daylights out of Momo, hid in the back of the saddle, and cried!" Katara reprimanded.

"I didn't _cry_. I _teared up!_ For Appa. There's a difference!"

"Guys, I'm worried too. Appa doesn't take this long to eat and drink, and he knows we have to get going." Aang said, gazing off in the direction where Appa had gone.

Suddenly, a deep bellow reverberated through the air, shaking leaves from branches and causing birds to take flight. The trio exchanged quick glances. "That sounded like Appa!" Katara cried.

Aang looked grim. "Yeah. And he doesn't sound happy."

* * *

"AAAAGH! GEROFF! GEROFF ME, YOU SMELLY THING!" Zuko threw fiery punch after flaming kick at the enraged bison, who continued rampaging after the Fire Prince, undeterred. 

Zuko couldn't understand what went wrong. One moment he was silently exulting in his success, confident that any second now his uncle and the soldiers would leap out, subdue the beast, and then lie in wait for the Avatar that would oh-so-foolishly rush to his shaggy friend's aid. The next thing he knew, the monster had lowered his head and charged. Zuko had barely blasted his way out before Keeli was trampled to splinters of wood and shreds of sheepskin.

He would have to buy some new tapestries. If he got away.

_Hunhhhrrraaw_! Appa paid no heed to the stinging of the blows that managed to land on his thick coat. All he could care about was stomping this hateful, HORRIBLE human into a grease smear on the grass.

A few humans dressed in red popped out from somewhere and came at Appa. With a mighty swipe of his middle paw, he sent them flying into the tall grasses. An older, heavyset man – Appa dimly registered him as a constant companion to the hated Scarred One – ran at the bison, waving his hands in the air and yelling for Appa to stop, please stop, we didn't mean it, please don't, please leave my nephew alone!

Appa slapped his muscled tail against the man and he rose into the air as well, falling with a dull _thud_, unconscious and unseen in the obscuring vegetation.

"UNCLE!" Zuko cried. "OH THAT'S IT!"

With renewed vigor, Zuko attacked the bison, throwing flames, punches, and kicks. "HAH! HUUH! AHHHYA!"

Appa was not impressed. He lunged forward, gaping maw of a mouth open. Zuko gasped, startled by the speed with which the bison moved. Before Zuko had a chance to recover, Appa had closed his powerful jaws around the Prince's midsection and began to _squeeze._

It felt like a hot, slimy hand was gripping Zuko's body and clenching into a fist. Zuko felt the Avatar's monster chomp down harder. _At least its teeth are flat_, he thought dully. If the beast had been a carnivore, the sharp, serrated canines would have torn the Prince to bits already.

Appa began shaking his impressive head back and forth, worrying his prize like a dog with a meaty bone. A loud _pop!_ was heard, and Zuko's shoulder, clenched on the threshold between Appa's teeth and the fresh air outside, dislocated. Zuko screamed in pain.

"APPA! APPA, STOP!"

Aang was sprinting across the meadow, Katara and Sokka hot on his heels. Appa's ear swiveled back to his human's voice. Stop? How could he? The scarred human has to die! Die, like my brothers and sisters did at home!

"Appa! Please! You're going to kill him!" Katara pleaded.

"Just let him go, big guy," Sokka added.

Aang had reached his steed now, and was standing in front of him, looking him in the eyes. "Appa, I know Zuko's hurt you. I know you're angry and tired. But please. We can't be like him," the Avatar gestured towards the figure of Zuko, dangling in Appa's mouth. "Please, Appa. Your kind believes in peace. _You_ believe in peace. You can't kill him, no matter what he's done. The monks asked you to be my guardian because they knew you were the kindest, gentlest bison. I'm asking you now, please _please_…remember that kindness and gentleness. Let him go."

There was a heartbeat of complete stillness, and then Appa groaned. The great jaws relaxed, and the limp form of the Fire Prince rolled out and fell to the ground. There was a sickening _CRACK_! as Zuko's head hit a large stone. Appa snorted in satisfaction. Just because he spared the human his life didn't mean he had to be comfortable when he woke up.

Katara was in shock. She had never seen Appa lose his temper before. He was the rock of the group, the one who was dependably calm, even in the face of danger. She looked back up to the bison. Now that she had witnessed his dreadful rage, she realized how lucky she was to be on his good side. _Of course, almost _everyone_ was on Appa's good side. He has had the power to destroy any of us, even Zuko, and never did._ "I wonder what Zuko did to make Appa so angry," she mused out loud.

Sokka prodded a scrap of sheepskin on the ground. "I dunno, but it involved stuff that could've been used to keep us warm! Such nice quality too…"

Aang wasn't looking at the piece of fabric that Sokka was holding admiringly up to the light. He was looking at his friend, his oldest companion. They had trained and played together in the temples, fled the monks' refuges together in an attempt to avoid Aang's destiny, been frozen solid together for over a century. They had fought battles as one, curled up side-by-side in the dark of the nights, explored new sights in each other's company.

Aang trusted Appa with his life. He had never feared his bison, despite the awesome power that the placid personality usually hid. But now…

For the first time in the one hundred and seven years he had known Appa, Aang was afraid of him.

Appa did not miss the glint of fear in his friend's eyes. He sensed the boy stiffen and suppress a shudder. His human may be the Avatar, the spirit of the world, but he was a boy too, and it was a child's paralyzing terror that Appa saw reflected in Aang's huge gray eyes. What had he done?

Appa had hurt someone. He, last of the airbison and trusted friend of the Avatar, had completely violated the code of peace that his kind had strove so hard to attain. He had shattered the island of tranquility within him and hurt, almost _killed_ another living being.

And worst of all, his best friend was now terrified of him.

The pain was unbearable.

With a long, howling roar, Appa lifted his head to the blue sky. He had lost the Avatar's confidence. He had compromised his own beliefs. He had let his people down.

The bison leapt into the air, blood still streaming from the many wounds inflicted by Zuko during their battled. Red droplets spattered down, one of them hitting Aang in the face and sliding down his cheek, like a tear shed by only the most desperate, the most lost, the most lonely.

"Appa? Appa, where are you going?" Aang called.

It did not matter. The bison, broken and battered, only wanted to get away, to forget what he had done and almost did. He wanted to hide, to nurse not only the many wounds that bled from his body but also the ones in his shattered heart.

His massive silhouette quickly faded in the blazing gold of the setting sun. A final, mournful moan lingered in the air, and then it too died away with the light.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka met each other's eyes, then looked away. Something had happened to Appa, and now there was no telling where he had gone or what he would do.

Katara looked down. Zuko lay where Appa had dropped him, spread-eagle and out cold. He was bloody and covered in bison saliva, and one shoulder was sprawled out at an awkward angle. She did not notice Iroh or the other men, a short distance off in the waving grass of the field.

Sokka joined his sister to see what she was staring at. He gave the unconscious Prince a kick in the ribs. Zuko groaned and twitched.

"Sokka!"

"What?"

Aang was still peering into the sun, in the direction Appa had gone. Katara's faltering voice broke the silence. "So…what do we do with _him_?"

* * *

**A/N: **Wow. Who would've thunk that Appa had a violent streak in him? I swear this is actually a Zutara fic. This is just the exposition, mind you. I promise Zuko and Katara will interact in the next chapter! 

Thanks for these glowing reviews! (tosses those Christmas tins of three different kinds of popcorn over a balcony )They mean a lot, they do. Let's see…if I may take the liberty of writing a longeraddendum today, I'd like to reply to some:  
**Melodiee:** Oh, I just made up the Flying Chon-giraffe. I had just watched _Secondhand Lions_, see, and there was a giraffe in one scene. Yes, Zuko has a slight lisp; it's a bit more evident in the first few episodes and it either fades or I got accustomed to it. And finally, there is another fanfic somewhere, can't remember now, that has a bit of Appa POV in it…it's pretty cute.  
**Even On The Bridge…: **I ADORE Beethoven. The Fifth, cliché as it may be, is one of my favorites. It's so…BOM BOM BOM BOM. Y'know. Your pen name makes me want to destroy a small city. Bwahaha.  
**SweetStories11: **I'm glad you like the chaos that seeps out of my mind and onto I've bookmarked your page actually, but haven't had the time to read. I will though!  
**Phantom Starlight: **OMG no one else picked up on the "I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!" (at least, no one told me), which is one of my favorite lines. You rock.  
**All others: **Squeek, I'm so happy you enjoy Appa's prominence in the story. I'll try my best to keep y'all entertained.

The symphony was A LOT of fun. If you ever get a chance to see Lang Lang in concert, do so. Never have I seen or heard piano played so beautifully; every note seemed as clear as the finest crystal. Gorgeousity to the max.

A question for the other writers: how long, on average, does it take for y'all to write a chapter? I'm spending 3-4 hours on my chapters, give or take, and there's no way I can keep up when school starts. Aiee. Last semester I nearly failed because I was reading _Avatar_ fanfic. This semester I'm going to fail because I was _writing_ fanfic. Which is sadder?

My sister: Yessss…now I don't have to email the authors to update, I can just bother you! (Aww...)


	4. Chapter 4: The Prisoner

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, because if I did, it'd be socially acceptable to wave my hands around in an attempt to Firebend some warmth into this chilly hut that I call home.

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**Chapter 4: The Prisoner**

"So…what do we do with _him_?"

Aang finally tore his gaze away from the horizon and became aware of his surroundings. Broken pieces of wood and scraps of fuzzy material littered the trampled grasses of the meadow. Zuko lay still on the ground, his head supported by a large, flat stone. Aang's stomach lurched; a dull crimson thread was trickling out from under Zuko's skull and spreading slowly over the rock and dripping into the dusty earth.

"I say we just go. It's getting dark, I'm cold and hungry. He'll be fine out here." Sokka was already dancing away, heading back towards the tree line of the forest.

"We can't just leave him here, Sokka! He's bleeding and it looks like his shoulder is dislocated!" Katara glared at her brother in disgust, and turned her gaze back on the unconscious Fire Prince. "Besides, it looked like Appa thrashed him good. A concussion, broken bones, internal bleeding…there's no telling what other injuries he may have. He could _die _out here."

"Well I say that's all for the better. An eye for an eye…he's practically given any of _us_ those injuries."

"You're such a meathead, Sokka!"

Aang blinked. The siblings' bickering was slowly drawing him back to reality, piercing the haze that cobwebbed his senses. Appa was gone, night was coming, and Prince Zuko was passed out, heavily injured, before him. The Avatar rubbed his temples. The shock of the day's events was catching up with him, and he was tired.

"WOULD YOU STOP POKING HIM WITH THAT STICK!" Katara was shrieking at her brother now.

Aang spoke abruptly. Sokka's antics ceased at the Avatar's voice and both he and Katara turned their eyes on Aang. "Monk Gyatso," Aang took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Monk Gyatso always said, 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.' We can't leave Zuko. We'll take him with us and find shelter for the night. In the morning, we'll head west, where Appa went."

"But – ow!" Sokka's protests were silenced by a hard punch to the arm from his sister. "Geez, Katara!"

She paid him no mind. "That's a good idea, Aang. Will you carry Zuko with your Airbending? He shouldn't be jostled, what with that head wound."

Aang looked into the Water Master's calming blue eyes. He knew that she had a good heart, a kind heart, but was still slightly surprised at the compassion he saw in those cerulean depths. With a gesture, the limp form of Prince Zuko rose steadily into the air and floated effortlessly. A few drops of blood dripped off of the gash in his head, but the wound was beginning to congeal. Katara reached into a pocket, withdrew a turquoise kerchief, and wrapped it around Zuko's head, tying it on the forehead. "I'll fix him properly when we get to a good source of water."

"Hmmph!" Sokka pouted. "You just wait. He'll wake up and blast us all to crisps. Won't you just be _so_ happy then? C'mon, Momo."

He held out his arm and with a chirrup, the lemur leapt onto it and scurried to sit on the shoulder. With another indignant sniff, Sokka marched forwards, nose held high. Momo looked at Sokka with his large eyes and imitated him, lifting his own snout to the sky.

Katara rolled her eyes. She and Aang, still holding Zuko in the air, followed as the sky crescendoed into a blazing glory of vibrant scarlet and gold.

* * *

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"PRINCE ZUKO! RUN! THE BISON'LL GET YOU!" Uncle Iroh bolted upright and immediately held a hand to his throbbing temple. "Ohhh."

The old man winced at the pain pounding inside of his head. Slowly, the initial rush of blood from sitting up so quickly ebbed, leaving only an indistinct pulse that testified to the airbison's strength. Iroh tilted his head back, looking up at the sky. Night had fallen – by the looks of it, for some time now – and dazzling pinpoints of light were scattered across the heavens like precious jewels flung across an infinite canvas of blackest velvet.

_What happened?_ Iroh tried to regain his bearings as he stood shakily, hearing cracks and pops from various joints. _Oh, that should please my physician._

The meadow was completely empty, save for the other Fire Nation men, some who were beginning to awaken as well and others who were still knocked out, and Keeli's remains. Iroh wobbled over to what was left of his artwork. "Poor Keeli," he mused, toeing the smashed remains of the rope system. "I will come back and give you a proper burial, but first I must find my nephew; please forgive me."

Iroh scanned the clearing; there was no sign of Zuko or the bison, and that worried the old man. "I hope Prince Zuko didn't get eaten," he fretted.

Dejectedly, Iroh decided that a search party would be necessary. The last he remembered, his nephew had been alternately fleeing and attacking the Avatar's beast, who seemed to be more than a match for him. Either Zuko had indeed been defeated or had managed to escape and was currently pursuing the Avatar, as he would have most certainly stayed behind to tend to his dear uncle if the bison had taken off. If the bison really did have Zuko, there would be no telling where they would be. _Make that a very large search party._

With a last, sorrowful look at Keeli's trampled form and the empty meadow, Uncle Iroh began helping the woozy Fire soldiers up, sending them back to the ship for some dinner and rest before the search for the lost Prince Zuko began.

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Although it would probably have cheered Iroh up a little to know that his nephew had not been devoured by the bison, Zuko was in only a slightly better state. The travelers, following the creek that had wound through the meadow, had taken shelter in a small hollow and were settling in for the night. As Aang and Sokka pitched camp, Katara knelt on the ground by Zuko, who was laid out as comfortably as possible on a makeshift bed of foliage and spare cloths. He was still completely out cold, and while the bleeding of his cut had stopped, he needed much medical attention.

Katara scanned her unconscious patient from tip to toe. _Where do I even begin? He's a mess._

Her gaze fell on the dislocated shoulder. _That should be easy enough_, she thought.

One gentle hand grasped the arm, the other held the shoulder. Katara took a deep breath. While she was skilled at healing with water, injuries such as this were more difficult for her. Gran-Gran had taught her only basic first-aid, and while she picked up other medical skills as the group traveled, she was no expert healer.

_Here we go._

Katara gripped Zuko's shoulder with a sudden ferocity as her other hand _shoved_ the arm back into the socket. There was a loud _POP_! and an even louder scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAGH!"

"EEEEEEE!"

Zuko was wide awake, staring wildly with terrified, pain-glazed eyes. At his cry of pain, Katara had screamed in surprise as well. Sokka let out a piercing shriek a split-second after his sister's, evidently startled at all of the noise.

"I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU HE WOULD WAKE UP! NOW WE'RE DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DIED!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!"

"HEALING YOU, WHAT DO YOU THINK, YOU INGRATEFUL JERK? NOW HOLD STILL!"

Chaos broke loose in the campsite: Zuko struggled to sit up, Katara pushed him back down, Sokka yelled, Zuko yelled, Katara yelled, and Momo shrieked.

"EVERYONE, STOP IT!" Aang shouted. The blue light that usually indicated the Avatar spirit's presence was not glowing in his gray eyes, but the power emanating from his voice carried authority that seemed to stop time.

The entire camp fell silent. Cautiously, Zuko tried to raise himself up again, only to be met with a stern glare from Katara. Sheepishly, he stopped moving and kept still. "Now. Sokka, you be quiet. Momo, you too, please." Aang said slowly.

Sokka grumbled and moved off to the edge of the firelight, where he paced and muttered under his breath, "We're so dead. We're dead, dead, dead. We're alive, but we're dead."

Aang ignored him. "Zuko, you're lucky to be here. You're badly hurt and I doubt you can take on both me and Katara in your condition. Don't try anything."

The authority thrumming through Aang's voice was a sure indication that he was not to be trifled with. Even Sokka, who looked slightly cross that he was not included in the arsenal that could be potentially levied against Zuko, remained quiet. The Avatar continued, "Katara, since Zuko's awake now, it doesn't seem he'll be in any immediate danger. Don't heal him until we settle this."

Katara nodded. She looked down at her patient, who gazed back at her. Strangely, she could detect no sign of the usual hostility that was sure to be present when they met. _Of course, he's also got a horrible cut on his head and who-knows-what-else_.

Aang came to stand at the foot of Zuko's bed and glared down at his prone form. He still looked as he had moments ago, but it was as if some deeper power had gripped him, transforming him into someone older and wiser. It was a huge difference from the carefree boy who whizzed around on airballs, crashing into anything and everything in his path. "Zuko."

The addressee's head cocked to one side, like a puppy hearing a curious sound. "Zuko?"

Aang's gaze hardened. He wondered what the Fire Prince was playing at. Although Aang had saved Zuko's life, he had no kind feelings towards the one who had burnt Appa and provoked the bison to flee. "Yeah. Zuko. Y'know…your name?"

Zuko raised his arm, the one that hadn't been dangling out of its socket earlier, to his forehead. "M-my…my name?"

"What's wrong with you?" Aang was becoming uncharacteristically angry. "Stop playing. We're serious. If you don't cooperate, we'll…we'll…"

His voice wavered, as if Aang the child was trying to force his way through the current personality of Aang the Avatar. "We'll leave you to die."

"Aang!" Katara sounded reproachful.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I'm trying, I really am." Zuko looked genuinely regretful.

Katara looked at the Prince lying before her. "Aang, I think he's telling the truth. I…I don't think he knows who he is."

Zuko turned towards her, a grateful look in his eyes. Aang remained unconvinced and Sokka, pacing in the background, muttered, "Yeah right."

Katara narrowed her eyes at her brother, who held up his hands and gave an apologetic grin. When she turned back to Aang, Sokka made a face at her behind her back. "Aang, I think it'd be best if you let me heal him, and then we can talk to him. That cut still looks pretty nasty, and I don't think he'll do so well if we interrogate him like this." She indicated the Prince lying at their feet.

"Yuck." Zuko had pulled his hand away from his head wound and was now examining the crusted blood with disgust.

After a moment's pause, Aang seemed to deflate; the jaded look left his eyes and he became the kindhearted child monk again. "Okay Katara, heal him. But don't try anything funny. Appa will get you," he bluffed.

Zuko tried to swivel his head in alarm, only to be rewarded with a hissed "Hold still!" from Katara. "Appa?"

Sokka leapt at the opportunity. "_Yeah_. He's our monster. He's HUGE. He's got six legs and can stomp jerks like you into pulp. In fact, that's how you got the way you did. He was trying to EAT YOU. We got there just in the nick of time to save you. Yeeeep. That's us. Your _saviors._ You owe us, buddy."

Zuko's eyes widened. "Is this true?" he asked Katara. He apparently saw her as his guardian, as she had been defending him these last few minutes.

Katara opened her mouth to tell him the truth, that Appa wouldn't hurt a fly, and it actually was _Zuko's _fault he was like that, but Aang shot her a glance over Zuko's body: _Don't. We don't know what's going on exactly, yet._

She swallowed. "Yeah," she affirmed quietly. "Appa's ferocious, and we control him."

Panicking, the frightened Fire Prince began to struggle violently, but just as soon as he began, he jerked to a stop, holding his side in anguish. "OW! Owww…what's going on?"

Afraid that her patient may have broken ribs that could potentially pierce his internal organs, Katara soothed, "Appa got you pretty bad. I'll need to see what damage he's done so I can heal you."

She knelt by his side once more, and gingerly lifted a corner of his grimy tunic. "Oh, gross!"

A mass of blue and purple greeted the world from their home on Zuko's side. Appa's teeth, while flat, had crushed Zuko's body with tremendous force. "It looks like you've got some internal bleeding here," Katara said.

She tested a particularly violently purple patch with her fingertip. The gentle prod caused the patient to squirm and let out an involuntary cry of pain. Katara's eyebrows knitted. "Your ribs are probably bruised, if not cracked altogether."

She looked up again. "I'm sorry, but I…" her voice faltered. "I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt."

"I'd do it, except I can barely move."

Aang wordlessly handed Katara a broad knife. A flash of fear came to Zuko's eyes but was quickly replaced again by the trusting, blank gaze. Steel flashed, and fabric fluttered to the ground.

Katara sucked in a sharp breath. Zuko's body had been beaten, beaten mercilessly. Purple, blue, and red rose up in angry splotches on both sides of his torso, tinged with green and yellow on the outskirts of the bruises. There were a few cuts, where by sheer force bison teeth had cut the flesh, but they were shallow. On the left side, there was an exceptionally dark patch of battered Zuko; Katara's mind flashed back to Sokka, gleefully socking his foot into the fallen Prince's side. "Wow."

Katara was impressed. Not only was this the most comprehensive and extensive collection of bruises she had seen in her life, but underneath the cacophony of colorful swelling she could see that Zuko kept himself in superb shape. _Wouldn't I like to have that stomach._

She gave herself a mental slap. What was she doing, checking out Prince Zuko? He was their prisoner, and she couldn't let herself forget all of the wrongdoings he had inflicted on her and her companions during their travels. _He hurt Appa. He looks…good. But he's the enemy._

Resolve steeled, she grated, "Water won't heal your bruised ribs. We'll have to do it the old-fashioned way."

* * *

Half an hour later Katara, for the second time that day, finished patching up a patient. "That doesn't look too bad!"

Wide strips of clean cloth were wrapped across Zuko's muscled torso. Underneath, the shallow cuts were cleansed and healed, as well as the gash in his head. He moved gingerly. "Oof."

Katara helped him slowly sit up. "You can move a little now, but in order for the bones to knit and heal, you can't jar them. No sudden movements, no hard activity."

The Prince nodded. _Who is this girl?_ he wondered. _Katara, whoever she is, seems to be the nicest of the three. _

From what Zuko could piece together, he was in the company of some very powerful people. They controlled a monster, could Waterbend, and that boy…

Zuko watched Aang, who was tending the fire. _He is special. He has power._ Zuko couldn't explain how, but he knew that the monk boy was more than what he seemed to be.

Whoever these people were, Zuko knew he would like to be on their good side. He couldn't remember anything, not even his own name. Sure, he had basic knowledge of the world around him; could identify everything and knew of concepts such as bending and its implications, but he just couldn't place himself into the midst of what he knew. It was all just information, facts that he knew but had no personal ties to.

He lay there, lost in the empty, echoing corridors of his personal memory. His entire body ached – it should, it was gnawed on by this unidentified Appa! – and he felt weariness behind his sinuses, as if he had missed sleep the previous night. "Not that I'd remember," he growled to himself.

Zuko sighed and snuggled deeper into the light blanket the trio had lent them. He was tired, so tired.

_Tomorrow I'll get the answers, _he promised himself. _Tomorrow I'll remember.

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**A/N: **Bleh. Foo. Sorry, this wasn't one of my funnier or more impressive chapters. We've got to get the tedious stuff out somehow, right?

Actually, I have to admit: I just saw _Brokeback Mountain_. Have you ever seen or experienced something that was so powerful that it leaves you in a sort of daze for a while? Yeah, that's me right now after the movie. It was…it was something, I'll tell ya that. I'll leave out the details here because I realize this is a public place where anyone can read my words, and in some places that sort of movie wasn't taken too well. If you want to hear about my experience of the movie or discuss it, drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to oblige. But it's my excuse for the decrease in quality of work.

Let's get to a few of the comments I've received…

**Rashaka: **Squeal! I'm ecstatic that you liked this enough to pimp it on your own fic! Much obliged, thanks muchly! I hope this slower chapter didn't turn you away in disgust.

**Silverwolfprints:** Egads! You're in Cali too? It's a LONG shot, but wouldn't it be FREAKY if we knew each other but didn't know it? By any chance, do you know Crazy Ted?

**The Youkai Slayer: **Glad you're enjoying it! Yes, it's actually a Zutara! In disguise! It's getting there…

**I stalk u at night: **And I stalk cheese sticks at night. I hope I didn't make you cry too much. See, I'm a champion crier. Don't you be usurping my position, now.

**Toffee Beans: **"Neko" is Japanese for "cat," "Mei Li" is Chinese for "beautiful," "Joi" was a misspelling of "joy," and "Zongzi" is a delectable food made for a Chinese festival. "Keeli" is in honor of Keely, a dog at the shelter I volunteer at, my favorite one ever. She had a cone on her head from surgery and you have not seen a sad sight until you see a doggy that has dropped food down the cone where she can't get to it but knows it's there so tries very hard to reach it. Happily, she found a home. Sadly, I never saw her again.

**Everyone else: **As always, I really appreciate your kind reviews. You know, it's really okay to leave unkind ones too, if you have a good reason for it. I wish I could give all of you a cookie. Or just some good writing, as soon as I sleep some and get my paycheck. Yes. That should make Penguinlet happy. PANDA-MONIUM!


	5. Chapter 5: The Burn

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, because if I did, I'd get into the class that I had wanted to be in (English 98/198: Contemporary Love Stories) so I could write even BETTER Zutara.

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**Chapter 5: The Burn  
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The first thing that slowly filtered through to Zuko's slumber-clouded consciousness was a soothing, comforting warmth. It wrapped around his senses, a soft, pleasant blanket that almost lulled him back to the embrace of sleep. The light of the sun and the sounds of the waking forest however, brought him to the brink of lucidity.

Zuko breathed in – not too deeply, for his ribs were still aching badly – and the fresh odors of nature were like a cup of jasmine tea, filling him and refreshing his body and mind. Behind his closed eyelids, he could see the glow of sunshine. Zuko slowly opened his eyes.

Bright, intense blue poured into his irises, the shock of vibrant color like a splash of cold, clear water.

"YAAAH!"

Katara jerked back in surprise. "What's wrong with you!" she hissed.

Zuko could feel his racing heart gradually slowing back down. "S-s-sorry. Sorry. I…you scared me."

Katara, from where she had recoiled from Zuko's start, let a small smile of amusement cross her lips. Scared? This really _was_ a different Zuko. _Sokka should be here to see this…he'd never let Zuko live it down. _

Zuko vaguely noticed that while the sun was still shining as brightly as it had been seconds ago, the reassuring warmth that had comforted him as he had awoken was gone. He tried to sit up, but even his chiseled abdominals could not help him finish getting up. "Ow!" he faltered, as his injuries kicked into full gear, and nearly crashed back down on his pallet.

Before he could collapse though, the Waterbender had reacted with lightning reflexes and returned to her patient's side, catching him in a swift motion.

For a heartbeat, the pair stared straight into each other's eyes. _So blue._

Then they realized that they were in a rather compromising position: Katara was holding Zuko, one arm on his good shoulder and the other encircling his well-defined torso and supporting his muscled back. Zuko in return had reached out with one hand to clasp Katara's supporting arm while the other had automatically braced himself on her shoulder. Their faces were close, so close.

"Oh sorry! Sorry," Zuko stammered, apologizing for the second time in less than a minute.

He put his hands back behind him and cautiously lifted himself the rest of the way into a sit. Katara let go, but her touch lingered on his bare skin.

Katara could feel a bright blush creeping into her cheeks. "It's…it's okay. I didn't want you to crack your head open again and then who knows what you would remember then? Maybe you'd think you were a cabbage merchant!" she cracked, trying to ease Zuko's embarrassment.

And her own.

"Yeah. Yeah." Zuko muttered.

Katara gave him a pitying look, then kneeled so that her face was at the same level as Zuko's, just not as close as earlier. Of course, she had only wanted to keep him falling and inflicting any more injury on himself. She felt strangely responsible for his well-being. _Duh_, she thought, _someone's gotta be the nice one around here. _

But did she have to be_ that_ nice? The thought wiggled around the back recesses of Katara's mind, a small, annoying worm in her cerebral crevasses. She shut one eye and squinted the other at Zuko, studying him. Sokka had been outraged when she refused to tie Zuko up for the night, convinced that he would try to escape during the night, or worse, capture them and bring them to the Fire Nation. Katara had argued back that she believed Zuko was telling the truth and was suffering traumatic amnesia. Aang had sat, silent, overwhelmed and worried for Appa.

"Why are you looking at me all funny like that?" Zuko asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

Katara began to giggle, then promptly stopped, as his hands began roving over his head, exploring features that he no longer knew to be his. _Appa must have beat him _bad.

She sighed. Their friend and transportation was gone, the one guy who had pursued them clear across the world was now in their capture, and he had absolutely no idea who he was. Katara rubbed her right temple absently. _I wonder if the spirits hate me._

"What is this? WHAT IS THIS!" Zuko yelped.

He had found the rough, raised burn splashing up the left side of his face. His features twisted in horror as his fingers prodded and poked about the scar, tracing its outline and contours. "How..wha-wha-what HAPPENED to me! I said I would behave, and you still sicced Appa on me!"

"What? No!" Katara protested. "No, Zuko…Zuko, calm, CALM DOWN!"

"You did! What's wrong with you people! Haven't you heard of a little thing called trust? Ugh!"

"You've got it all wrong! Let me explain!" Katara reached out to restrain him.

Panic was setting in the Fire Prince again, as he twisted awkwardly out of her grasping hands. Teeth bared in anger and shock, he snarled, "DON'T! Don't. Touch. Me."

Katara persisted, trying to grab his flailing limbs before he jarred his ribs and made things worse. Zuko kept swatting her away, his emotions getting the better of him.

Suddenly, a bright flame roared into life on one of his hands, and he swiped at Katara with the burning mass.

Immediately, she fell back with a loud cry, landing roughly on the forest floor. Shaking, she held her own face in one hand.

Zuko's rage vanished; he was stunned and appalled at what he had just done. He stared at the flame in his hand, the fire still burning merrily over his palm. _Firebender? Me?_

A crying whimper drew his attention back to the girl cowering on the ground. Her head was turned to the side, facing him, and he could only see her dainty profile: that defined nose, those full lips. Tears were streaming down the cheek turned towards him.

"Katara? Katara, I'm sorry! I didn't mean…I didn't mean to…I don't know how…oh, I'm sorry!"

Unheeding of Zuko's stuttered apology, she continued weeping. Slowly, the hand clutching her face lowered. _Oh, it hurts. It hurts!_

As Katara pried her hand away from her face, Zuko gaped in shock. Her face, her beautiful face, was now marred by a blistering burn that started from the bridge of her nose and stretched downwards, towards the smooth curve where jawbone met neck. She was still not looking at him and tears continued coursing down in small rivulets.

Shakily, Zuko crawled and crept his way towards the crying girl. Every movement felt like a thousand spears twisting into his chest, but he had to reach her. His mind was still reeling from what had transpired. _I'm a Firebender! And I abused that gift to hurt her. _

Finally, he reached Katara. Hesitantly, he stretched his palm towards her, trying to convey all of his guilt and regret in the touch of his fingertips. As soon as his fingers grazed her skin however, she jerked away and looked at him, full in the eyes. The poisonous red welt on her face matched the venom in her voice. "Get away from me."

"Katara, I-"

But it was no use. She pushed away from him, shoving him to the dirt. It was all he could do to keep from crying out from the pain of impact on his ribs. Katara did not look back however; she stumbled to her feet and ran into the trees, where Zuko quickly lost her in the treeline. As the soft weeping faded into the foliage, Zuko raised himself to a sitting position with effort. He sat in the dusty earth for a while, thoughts racing around his mind.

First of all, there was that scar on his face. He was stunned that he had been once hurt so badly. He wished he could remember why he had it…

FLASH!

_An arena, filled with people. He was on his knees, looking up to shadowy figure before him. Someone was pleading. Him!_

_It was useless. He despaired. And then…and then, burning pain. Pain beyond all comprehension. Burning. Burning, burning, something was burning in his head and clawing its way out; his face was on fire!_

_He felt things. Shame. Dishonor. _

_And most of all, he felt loneliness and grief; abandonment. He was not loved._

Huh?

Zuko grabbed his head in frustration. Was…was that a memory? In vain, he combed his mind for more information. Nothing. Nothing but emptiness. Even that brief moment, that had seemed so real, was slipping away from him.

"ARRGH!" Zuko's hands burst into flame as he pounded the ground. WHY! Why couldn't he remember anything? Who was he? What had happened to him? What was his past?

Breathing heavily, Zuko drew his knees to his chest and buried his head in his arms. Bit by bit, the fire in his blood ebbed away until it was only a faint throb of heat, pulsing in sync with his heart.

He needed answers.

* * *

"Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should've known he would do it when he got the chance. Stupid! He was faking, he knows, he knows and he burnt me and he's going to get Aang and bring us all to the Fire Nation!" 

Katara knelt at the clear pool. She had run blindly into the forest, uncaring where she went, so long as she got away. Got away from _him._

She looked into the water and gasped as she saw her burn. _Oh my._

She hoped the water could heal such a bad burn. It was a violent crimson; blistered, oozing, raw skin. The pain on her face matched incongruously with that in her heart. She felt betrayed. He had lied to her. He was the same old Zuko, only wanting to hurt.

"Oh, it burns."

She wished Sokka or Aang had been there, but her brother had gone out for food and Aang had simply wandered away, looking completely lost. Somehow, that he had attacked her alone, that he had waited until they had begun to build up a sort of relationship, made the injury more personal. She had tended his wounds, kept Sokka from playing any practical jokes on him, brought him food and water.

And he repaid her with this.

She brought her fingers close to the wound, but couldn't touch it for fear of setting off a fresh wave of nauseous pain. She closed her eyes – that hurt, too – and sighed. _No_, she realized, rationale gradually taking over her panic. _He could've finished the job. He didn't want to hurt me. He was sorry. I know. I could hear it, feel it._

The crack of a twig started Katara out of her musings. She whipped around, starting to scold Sokka for being away when she needed him. "WHERE HAVE YOU-oh."

Zuko, panting and extremely pale, stood leaning against a tree. He was clutching his ribs and sweat beaded his brow. "K-Katara…I…I'm…really sorry."

Katara tried to hold on to her anger long enough to launch into a diatribe as blistering as the injury on her face, but could not. Zuko hadn't known what he was doing, hadn't known about the burning power inside him. He had found her, even though his expression showed that he was in severe pain. She winced as she remembered shoving him to the hard earth. That had probably not been good for his healing ribs.

Zuko felt like he was ready to faint. He had known only a vague notion of where to go, and against all reason he had tottered into the unfamiliar forest after this girl. His chest felt like it would shatter into a million fiery pieces, and it took all of his strength to keep moving. _All for her. Why?_

He couldn't explain it. He only knew he had to follow her, to try to right his wrongs, to be with her. That he had hurt her so badly devastated him.

Katara noticed that Zuko began to sway on his feet. He started to topple, and she was at his side in a flash, supporting him and helping him to where she had been sitting next to the pool. She lowered him to the soft moss and sat down herself. "Shh. It's okay. Here. Drink."

_Figures, _she scoffed silently._ Boy meets girl. Boy mauls girl's face. Girl gives boy nice drink of water._

A sphere of water rose to Zuko's face. He raised one eyebrow in surprise, but eagerly slurped away at the cool liquid.

Katara watched him drink; watched as his supple lips, once so tightly pressed into a bitter line or twisted in a malicious snarl, moved with uncharacteristic softness. As if he were caressing the water with his mouth. Caressing, stroking, licking.

Suddenly, Katara was gripped by a bizarre sensation, an intense desire for her skin to be the water against Zuko's lips. She shuddered, and the feeling disappeared. Mentally, she slapped herself and mentally, recoiled from the effects that mind-slap had on her mind-burn.

_GET A GRIP!_ she screamed at herself. _What is WRONG with you! Yesterday you were practically drooling over his stomach, and now you want him to be kissing you, slobbering on you like Sokka on sardine buns?_

"Thanks." Zuko had finished drinking, and Katara let the rest of the water plop back into the pool.

_He might be cute, he might be nice, but sooner or later, he'll remember and then he'll destroy you. _

"You're welcome," Katara said, a little harsher than she should have.

_He is the Fire Prince Zuko. It could never be. _

Color was returning to the Fire Prince's cheeks, and he no longer looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

_Fire burns. Water soothes. They could never hope to be together._

Katara gazed into the clear water in front of her. Zuko leaned over to see what she was looking at, and his face appeared next to hers. Now Katara could see that the burn Zuko had given her spread over her entire right cheek, curving down towards her jawline like some giant comma from hell.

"Katara. I really, truly am sorry."

His eyes caught hers in their reflection in the water. Very quietly, she replied, "It's okay. You didn't know."

Zuko was about to turn away from their reflections to look at Katara properly, but something caught his attention. _No way._

Very slowly, very cautiously, Zuko moved his face until their cheeks were barely touching. He could feel Katara stiffen from his proximity, but he shushed her. "Look."

Katara peered into the water. In some strange symmetry, her fresh wound was an upside down echo of his old scar. While hers snaked from the upper part of her face, bound by her nose and reaching back to her jawline, his cut upwards toward his ear. The two burns were separated by Zuko's unscarred portion of his face, but then he slowly tilted his head so that he was facing the side of her very slightly, and the two scars merged.

Katara's eyes widened. There, on the surface of the glimmering pond, was the symbol of balance and harmony.

His lips were right next to her ear. She could feel his breath, warm against her face. "Yin and yang," he whispered.

Something hot, something heavy, crawled up from somewhere deep inside and spread like wildfire through her veins. It burned dully in her blood, throbbing with her pulse.

Zuko didn't know what came over him, but seeing their burns line up so perfectly in the water, having her so close to him...something awakened in him and came rushing to the surface, like an air bubble from the depths of the oceans.

It was important that she forgave him. It was important that she be next to him right now. It was…it was important the she felt same way he did.

He could remember nothing, had nothing. He had awoken to fierce pain and threats of more pain, to hostility and mistrust. She had been different. She had tended him, cared for him, defended him, believed him.

Zuko had nothing from his past. He might as well begin to fill the void with aspects of his future, and he wanted her to be in it.

Haltingly, he reached up with one slightly trembling hand and took her chin. He tilted her head so they were facing one another. Their eyes met, gold crossing over to blue and back again. Slowly, so excruciatingly slowly, he lowered his face to hers. He closed his eyelids, and her own fluttered. Carefully, he brought his palm up to cup her cheek, as their lips drew ever closer.

The pain seared straight into the core of Katara's brain. "OWWW!"

She wheeled away from him, all previous thoughts forgotten. Gasping, she gripped her head in her hands, careful to avoid the burn.

Zuko felt horrendous; it was as if someone had opened every wound in him again.

As the maddening pain died down to a muted hurt, Katara released her head and looked back at Zuko. What had he…what had she..._what almost happened_!

"I…I b-better get this healed. Stupid me. I almost forgot to do it, and then I'd be left with a bad scar."

As soon as she said those words, she wished she hadn't. Zuko's features contorted in pain, and he turned away from her.

_Of course, _his mind sneered._ A scar. Who would want that?_

Katara felt so terrible. She gave his back, turned sullenly away from her, a sympathetic look. She could waste no time, however. She had to get her burn fixed. Quickly, she pulled some water out of the pond, disturbing the unnatural stillness that had come over the smooth liquid when she and Zuko almost…

She shoved the thought out of her mind, and set to work. Expertly, the water flew to her wound, forming a protective seal around it. She concentrated, and the water glowed brightly. The light faded, and the liquid dropped to the ground, gobbled eagerly by the lush moss underfoot. Where the burn had been, was unblemished, healthy, whole skin. The pain was gone, and Katara happily ran the back of her hand against the smoothness of her face. Just as rapidly her cheerfulness had come however, it drained away. Zuko's broad back was still facing her. Gently, she placed a hand on one strong shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

She could feel him flinch, but he turned to her. His face was emotionless, expressionless. The scar arced up his face, once again the only of its kind, seemingly lost without its counterpart. "Forget it," he said gruffly.

They sat for a moment, unsure. Finally, Katara broke the silence. "Come on," she said, standing and offering her hand. "We'd best be getting back."

Zuko looked at her outstretched hand, capable of such tremendous power. Power to heal, power to manipulate her element, power to turn his knees into jelly at a simple touch. "Okay," he replied, indulging in her touch one last time and taking the proffered hand.

After he was back on his feet, she immediately let go. Everything in Zuko mourned the loss of her touch, but he clamped down on his protesting being. She was too different from him. She healed; he destroyed. She was smooth and untouchable; he was scarred and beaten. _We could never be._

The pair made their way back to camp, stopping for Zuko to rest now and then. As they walked in silence, Zuko stewed. _You repulse her. She doesn't want your scarred self touching her. She will never care for you that way. _

They reached the hollow. Aang and Sokka were back, and at the sight of Katara and Zuko, burst into scolding and mad ranting. Well, at least Sokka did.

While Katara dealt with her brother's raving, Zuko sat quietly on his pallet. Aang looked at him, wordless questions in his gray eyes, but Zuko merely avoided the Avatar's gaze.

As the siblings' squabbling continued in a background frenzy, Zuko stared down into his two open hands.

_The hurt I inflict will never touch her again.

* * *

_

**A/N: **Oh brother. The cheese! The corn! Ah yes, but Zuko has really found some feelings in that baked shell of his, and whaddya know, has some issues with self-esteem that we never thought existed! Of course, he doesn't remember a thing, but hey. You take what you can get. I also hope no one has been suffocated from the prolific symbolism. Prolific, crappy symbolism.

WHEW! Finally, I get something out of my addled brain! I'm really sorry that I haven't been updating. It was the last week of break first, and I wanted to do all these things I hadn't done, and then the first week of school was, as always, hectic. I've had to drop this and add that, return books, buy books, and decide what kind of a workload I want. All that and the emergence of some new extra-curriculars: archery club and tuco-tuco wrangling (look up tuco-tucos…they're so cute! And I get to feed them!) in addition to playing with doggies and giving frozen yogurt to hungry children. It's overwhelming, y'know?

**Rashaka: **Oh yes, who could possibly turn away from shirtless Zuko? Geez. The last time I fangirled over a shirtless male cartoon character was when I was a wee lass and squealed over Goliath from that old show, _Gargoyles_. And now look at me. Salivating over a nonexistent, near-bald kid with a bad temper and a nice invitation to jail for corrupting a minor. D

Oh, I gotta ask you…what's the purpose of putting an exclamation mark between things like Amnesiac Zuko, and Peanut Gallery Sokka? I've seen it used for things like crack!pairing, and I don't get it. Explain, please?

**Vicki So: **"Tabula Rasa" was also a _Justice League_ episode. Odd.

**Silverwolfprints: **WHAT IS THIS! WHAT IS THIS! flap flap flap.

**Honoo girl: **Appa's been such a nice, placid bison in all of the episodes and fanfics. It's time he got a little kick-ass scene of his own!

**I love zuko: **Yeah, it was pretty sad to see Keely try to get her kibble. She was so cute!

Glad everyone is enjoying the amnesia. It's a nice chance to explore Zuko's softer side without making him seem girly. I don't find it too OC, I think it's actually very characteristic of him but he just hides it under his LOOKATME I'M A MAN exterior.

It's 1:30AM. Watch as I pass out in class, incurring the wrath of the professors.


	6. Chapter 6: The Redemption

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender because if I did, Music Night would be a full-blown disco affair.

* * *

_

**Chapter 6: The Redemption**

A cool breeze riffled through the treetops, far below the rocky mountain cave. A flock of silver birds lifted off into the air, squabbling loudly as they rode the zephyr into the clear blue sky. Huge chocolate eyes followed the departure of the birds from within the stony recess, sadly yearning for the same lightness of heart and freedom of spirit.

_Grrmph._ Appa grumbled softly. He had spent two nights in the secluded mountain retreat, hiding from the world and hiding from his shame. He had only a faint memory of himself fleeing blindly into the sky and finally landing clumsily on the rocky ledge that led into the cave. He had stumbled inside and collapsed, lying on the dusty ground for what seemed like an eternity as his wounds scabbed over and his aching muscles recovered. Finally, the haze that clouded his mind had burned off, leaving him with a single thought: the Avatar needed him.

Appa heaved a dull sigh and puffs of soft dirt swirled out from under his massive snout. He had violated his people's code of peace; no doubt about that. He had lost control and endangered another living being and then fled shamefully, leaving his human charge and companion alone – two serious transgressions in Air culture.

A lesser bison would have sneered that the Air tradition no longer existed; it was wiped out as mercilessly and efficiently as the ones who practiced it. Fortunately, Appa was not such a bison. He was an airbison of honor, integrity, peace, and courage. In the days before he had been trusted with the responsibility of being the Avatar's guardian, Appa had been the crown jewel of the airbison. He brought his sire and dam much honor; had been the pride and joy of all.

Now, those who had respected and loved him were gone, but that did not mean Appa could shirk his duties as an airbison and Avatar Guardian. He could spend a lifetime hiding away in the high mountains, a lonely and dismal existence of shameful dishonor, or he could return to his human and perform the rite of redemption. Hopefully, the Avatar would accept and forgive him.

Stiffly but steadily, Appa rose to his six feet. His wounds were still in the process of healing and he was a little sore, but he would not allow himself the disgrace of another day spent in idleness. He would return to his human. He would perform the redemption ritual. And with luck, he would be forgiven and allowed to serve the Avatar again.

The bison shuffled into the warm sunlight and blinked at the dizzying beauty of the landscape before him. Lush green trees spread like living carpet over the rounded angles of the soaring mountains. In the distance, a faint ribbon of steely blue marked the edge where land met sea. Far to the west, Appa's sharp eyes could make out the slight depression in the trees where the clearing was, setting of his sins. The Avatar and his human friends would be somewhere past the meadow. It would be a small effort to find them, but eventually Appa would see them from his perch high in the sky.

Yonder lies hope. Redemption.

The great bison leapt into the open air and flew.

* * *

It was just as well that Appa began his search for his friends when he did, because the humans were wearing down. Of course they had traveled by foot before, but even then Appa would be available to carry some of their packs in his saddle. The addition of Zuko to the party helped only slightly.

"And this, and this, and that, and…oh yeah, put this on top," Sokka instructed.

Zuko peeked over the pile of stuff in his arms just in time to catch the sleeping roll. "Sokka," he gasped, "This is all your junk. Why aren't you carrying it yourself?"

Sokka scratched his head and smiled. "I'm the leader of this group, right? I need to be free to lead! And move…and stuff. Oh! I forgot my parka. You can carry that, too."

The fur-trimmed item flew into Zuko's face. Setting everything down, Zuko snatched the dirty parka off of his head and growled, "I'm not your pack-mule! We split the load evenly!"

"HEY! Watch where you put my things!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

In an instant, the two had their faces inches from each other, snarling and bristling. Katara looked up from where she was tightening the laces on her own pack. Rolling her eyes, she pulled a water-whip out and snapped it at Sokka and Zuko's ankles in one clean sweep.

"YOW!" her brother screeched, leaping into the air.

"Hey!" Zuko yelled, dancing back.

Katara smiled mischievously. "Now be useful before I hit the whip somewhere it'll REALLY hurt."

Zuko's cheeks tinged pink, but Sokka whined, "Aww. You know, ever since you became a Master, you're a lot less fun. I was just testing him!"

Still grumbling, he began gathering things and shouldering them himself. "Look at me, I'm Katara! I can tell my brother what to do because I can make freaky water toys!" he muttered.

Sokka yelped as Katara froze the water she had been sneaking stealthily down the neck of his shirt. Zuko barked a laugh but immediately clammed up when the girl turned towards the sound of his voice. After the Firebending fiasco yesterday, Zuko had kept his interaction with Katara to as much of a minimum as possible. He had avoided her for the rest of the day and all night and so lost his only companionship: Aang was withdrawn and unapproachable and Sokka only wanted to tease the amnesiac Prince mercilessly.

Lost and alone, he had been sitting by the campfire, absent-mindedly listening to Katara and Aang's Waterbending practice when he found himself pulling sheets of flame out of the fire and manipulating them with ease. He had stared, mesmerized, as his hands moved out of their own accord, flaring brightly in the dark night. _Hello, fire. Can you tell me who I am?

* * *

_

He watched himself, as if in a completely different body, breathe deeply, in and out, and saw the fire swell in temperature and intensity. Somehow, something deep inside knew how to control the capricious flames; the fire was a part of who he was.

Zuko stood and the hidden Firebender inside of him told him what to do. His fist swung back and shot out with blinding speed; bright orange flames shot merrily into the darkness. The lost prince smiled. Without any true ally in this world, the fire was his only friend.

Gingerly slipping off his tunic, Zuko allowed his body to move him through the stances. Like a well-oiled machine, every part of him worked in sync with everything else and for that moment, Zuko forgot about his aching ribs, his lost memories, his spurned affections. All he saw and felt was the burning warmth inside of him, manifested in the fluid movements of the Firebending.

_Breathe. Step. Strike. Breathe. Kick. Block. Breathe._

A strong hand gripped Zuko's shoulder, jerking him back into harsh reality. Zuko wheeled around, balance momentarily lost, and came face-to-face with the suspicious countenance of Sokka. "What were you doing?" he demanded.

Zuko wiped off the beads of sweat on his brow and reached for his shirt. "Just…being myself."

Unsatisfied, Sokka crossed his arms and cast a skeptical eye on Zuko, who was struggling to get his arms back in the sleeves. Suddenly, a sly look flitted across Sokka's features and he reached over and helped Zuko with the disobedient clothing. Zuko muttered his thanks, and the two sat down in front of the fire.

"You know," Sokka began, "I don't think you really know who 'myself' is for you."

Incredulous, Zuko looked up. Was the paranoid Water boy finally coming around? Or was he just mocking him? "Took you that long, huh?"

Sokka held up his hands in protest. "Hey, you gotta see where I'm coming from. A strange guy in the jaws of our boy Appa, who never attacks someone without good reason. Suspicious, my man, very suspicious. Either you were pulling a big scam or you weren't."

Gazing into the crackling campfire, Zuko mulled this over. Sokka, Katara, and Aang had recognized him when he woke up, even though he hadn't been able to reciprocate. Did they know him as a cheat and a liar? _Was _he a cheat and a liar?

Sokka watched Zuko ponder and stare at the fire. He forced himself into an appearance of comradely charity, but inside he was tense and very, very nervous. If Zuko decided to throw fireballs at him, he'd be unable to fend off the attacks due to their close proximity. He was taking a big gamble, coming to talk to the one who kept trying to capture him and his friends. Furthermore, if Zuko really had amnesia and didn't remember a thing, Aang and Katara might not stand for what Sokka was planning to do next.

"I'm not. Lying, that is," Zuko finally murmured.

Sokka leaned in conspiratorially. "You don't know who you are, but we do. You have no one, except us. If you want, I can tell you everything you want or need to know. But you have to swear complete fealty."

Something seemed off to Zuko. Not quite knowing why, he asked, "Does Katara know about this?"

Sokka was taken aback, but only for a split-second. _Don't you even _think_ about getting close to my sister_, he wanted to say. Instead, he looked at the prince with solemn eyes and said, "Yes. She asked me to do this, in fact."

Zuko grimaced. Of course. She was telling him to stay away, to leave her alone. "Tell me all you can before I have to pledge loyalty."

"No can do, my friend. It's all or nothing."

The Fire Prince bit his lip and looked up, to the dark night sky. The stars shone so brightly above, distant beams of light indifferent to the inner turmoil of one lost Firebender.

_Beams of light._

FLASH!

_A blinding column of light, just off the horizon. It was cold, so cold all around him, but something hot roared to life inside as soon as he saw that beam of light. Redemption? Hope? Fear?_

_He had to get to the source of the glow. That's where the answers were._

"_Helmsman! Steer towards that light!"_

Sokka studied the other boy's face carefully. His eyes were clenched tightly shut and there was a hard edge about him, almost as if the old Zuko was returning. Sokka cautiously reached back to his boomerang and gripped it, ready to defend himself as best as he could.

Zuko's mouth tightened and his eyes flew open, burning intently. "Fine. Tell me everything."

Still wary, Sokka didn't let go of his weapon. "Do you promise to remain loyal to us, even in extreme circumstances?"

"Yes."

"All righty then."

* * *

Zuko shouldered his pack and stood. His ribs still hurt from time to time, but were practically mended already. Katara had prodded him this morning and declared it abnormal but convenient. Zuko thought it might've had something to do with his Firebending practice. When he Bent, things just seemed right.

He looked over to her. She was speaking quietly to Aang, who nodded and then smiled half-heartedly. She hugged the tattooed boy and Zuko felt a white-hot snarl of jealousy deep inside. Turning away in anger, he thought back on what Sokka told him.

They were a traveling group of students, en route to seek an education in the renowned Omashu University. Katara was a Water Master – Sokka had seen no way to hide this fact – and Aang was a fluke, an Air Monk who happened to be able to bend water as well. Zuko was their hired man, charged with protecting the trio. After only a couple of days of joining the group, Zuko had somehow angered Appa, who attacked and wounded him, causing his memory to short out.

Zuko sighed. It was good that he knew a little more about himself and his circumstances, but Sokka's explanation filled in woefully little of his past. He ached to know more about who he was as a person: his childhood, his home, his friends and family. He also wished to know – Zuko gritted his teeth – why he had that awful scar, why he was looking for redemption, why he felt unloved.

_Maybe I'm a rogue who committed some crime in the past and is now trying to redeem himself through helping others._

Zuko scrunched his nose at the thought and discarded it, although he lingered over the brief mental image of himself as a masked assassin, clad in black and wielding razor-sharp broadswords with deadly accuracy. _Aah, that's stupid._

The four had begun trekking forward. Aang led the way with Momo perched on his shoulder, followed by Zuko, looking thoughtfully into the distance. Sokka walked between the ruminating Firebender and his sister.

"Sokka," Katara said, catching up to her brother. "What's with him?"

She indicated Zuko, lost in thought. Sokka winced. He knew he would eventually have to tell Katara what he told Zuko, but he had been putting it off. She might get mad at him for lying to Zuko.

Quickly and quietly, he explained what he had told Zuko last night.

"_What_!" Katara screeched.

Aang and Zuko turned at her voice. Katara grinned apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. Sokka just told me that he had been trying on some of my clothes. Keep walking; don't embarrass the poor guy!" she fibbed.

Zuko looked at Sokka with a mixture of confusion and scorn but continued walking. Aang, on the other hand, hopped excitedly over to the siblings, showing the first spark of emotion since Appa had fled. "You didn't know, Katara? That one time, on Kyoshi Island –"

Sokka silenced his friend with a glare. Katara said in a low voice, "Oh, I know about that. Any ways Aang, I just said that to get Zuko to go back to staring off into space. Do you know what Sokka told him?"

Aang looked uncomfortable. "Yeah."

"_You knew_!" Katara shrieked again, loud enough for Zuko to hear.

A chuckle slipped out of Zuko, but he didn't turn around. He sensed this was something he wasn't a part of. _Sokka has some issues of his own, I guess._

Katara took in three deep breaths and fixed Aang and Sokka with a stern look. "That isn't right!" she protested, quiet once more. "We're lying to him, manipulating him to suit our needs –"

"Would you have it any other way, Katara?" Sokka interrupted. "Do you _want_ to tell him that he's the Fire Prince who's been chasing us all over the place? Do you _want_ to tell him Aang's the Avatar, the one that he's been trying to capture? Do you _want_ to give him a reason to turn us over to the Fire Nation?"

"I still don't think it's right!"

"We saved him from Appa, healed him, let him stay with us! Do you think the Fire Nation would have done as much for us? Do you think _he _would have? We're trying to avoid capture and death, not make friends and have tea and cake!"

"By lying to him and using him, we're just as bad!"

"Katara, you don't get it, do you?" Sokka fumed. "Lying so Gran-Gran won't find out that I tried her hookah is different from lying to save Aang and you and me from the Fire Nation! It could be our lives at stake!"

Katara opened her mouth to argue some more, but Aang cut in, "Katara, Sokka's right. I wasn't happy when he told me earlier, but it's what has to be done. Zuko can't know the truth. We'd never get to Bumi's, or anywhere else. Besides, this way he thinks he's our bodyguard, right? We have some protection, and if things get bad with the Fire Nation, we can use him as a hostage."

Katara turned to gape at her friend. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! You want to lie to him and then _betray_ him?"

"What else can we do?" Aang countered. "We're in the middle of the forest. There are no towns within a day's walk. Appa's gone, and we're still weeks from getting to Omashu. We can either leave him or bring him with us. And if he comes with us, he can't know that the guy he's been chasing across the globe, _me_, is sleeping across the campfire from him!"

The Waterbender glared at the two boys. Even though she knew she was fighting a losing battle, she opened her mouth again, only to be cut off by the immense, six-legged shadow that swooped over their heads. "Appa?" she ventured.

"Appa!" Aang cried. "Appa, hey buddy! We're here! Hey! We're here!"

_Naaargh_! Appa called back. No matter how great his shame was, he was still overjoyed at the sight of his human friends.

The huge bison landed on the soft forest ground and whuffed a greeting. Aang leapt up and embraced his steed's soft forehead mane while Katara and Sokka crowded around the sides, disagreement temporarily forgotten.

Katara, not lost in all of the excitement, was petting Appa and patching his remaining wounds when she heard a strangled squeak from behind her.

Zuko had never been more terrified. This _thing_ had just dropped out of the sky, barely missing him on its landing. He was almost positive it was some freakish bison-of-prey, come to snatch him up and fly off with him for supper. A hand touched his arm softly. He turned and gaped at Katara. "Wah? Wuh? Wabluh."

She giggled, in spite of herself. "Zuko, meet Appa."

"_That's Appa_?"

"Yep."

"_That's _what chewed on me?"

"Yep."

"Who _are_ you people!"

Katara's face darkened. "Just some students, like _Sokka_ said."

Zuko, too dazed to notice her bitter tone, stammered, "Well, do you guys study enormous, six-legged, flying monsters or what?"

"Nah. It's a long story. Let's go say hello instead."

Taking his hand firmly in hers, she pulled him to where the bison stood, still enjoying the reunion with his friends. Zuko didn't really want to go anywhere near the gargantuan beast that had gnawed on him, but the persistent tugs of Katara's arm were too great to resist. _I must really like her to be going towards _that.

* * *

Night had fallen, and the stars were once again glittering brightly, twirling in their eternal dance across the heavens. Zuko lay on his back, gazing at the sky. Katara lay to the left of him, breathing evenly and peacefully in her sleep. Sokka had placed his sleeping roll between her and Zuko, once again making every effort possible to stand or lay between his little sister and the crazy Fire Prince. Aang and Appa had flown off shortly after talking Appa out of trampling Zuko to bits, promising to return by dawn. Something about a redemption ritual, Zuko remembered. _So_ _what and where is my redemption?_

A rustling from Sokka shook Zuko out of his thoughts. He sat up and looked to his left. Sokka had just stomped out of the campsite, presumably to relieve himself. Zuko took the opportunity to study Katara while she was in his view, unobstructed. He still had no idea what to do about her; he couldn't just keep ignoring her. Something in him didn't allow it. She pulled at him, a gentle but unrelenting force like the ocean tides.

Katara stirred lightly in her sleep, as if she could feel the intensity of Zuko's gaze. A stray lock of hair hung lazily on her face and he yearned to reach out and brush the soft strand back. _If only I didn't disgust her._

Zuko was so intent on the sleeping girl that he didn't hear Sokka return. Suddenly, he was shoved roughly back against the ground and was staring into the Water boy's angry eyes. Distantly, he remembered the last time he had looked into Katara's blue eyes. The siblings shared the same vibrant color in their irises, but while hers had been clear and cool like a bubbling stream, her brother's were dark and turbulent, like the raging sea during a storm.

Sokka's eyes gleamed madly in the dim starlight. "You stay away from her, do you hear me?" he hissed. "Just stay away from my sister. Don't talk to her, don't look at her, don't _touch_ her."

Irritated, Zuko pushed Sokka back. "I wouldn't touch your precious sister for two copper pieces. Now get off me, you crazy nut."

A fierce grin flashed over Sokka's face, more a baring of teeth than a smile. "Good. Because if you do, Appa _might_ just lose control, and we _might_ not be around to save you this time."

Sokka rose and clambered back into his sleeping roll. Zuko sneered at him and rolled onto his side, facing away from the Water siblings. Gradually, his anger subsided and he began drifting towards the fuzzy edges of sleep. As he teetered on the brink of consciousness, he thought, _What a lie.

* * *

_

­­­­**A/N: **So Sokka's got a manipulative side to him! Devious. My response to the LJ icon I saw that said, "Sokka: I'm not just for comic relief!" Before everyone starts ripping into me on how I corrupted our favorite Water warrior, let me reassure everyone that he's still the same old Sokka. We're just going to take a look at his protective and darker side.

Hoho! Appa's back! See, I didn't leave him in the lurch! Before you know it, Iroh will make his grand re-entry and the whole gang will be together again! Or will they?

Updates will be few and far between, as I'm going to be in the midterm stretch of the semester. I apologize, and promise goodness to come towards the end of March. In the meantime, go enjoy the lovely spring weather. Fly a kite! Walk a dog! Have an epileptic fit over a cupcake!

**Rashaka: **I'd think that Zuko wouldn't fall for Katara so quickly if it weren't for the fact that he's in the middle of nowhere with no idea who he is, and she's just the nicest of the bunch. By the way, I finally got around to reading "Culture Clash" and I think it's spectacular. I la-la-looove it!

**wilderness-writer: **Dedicated, yes. Makes good decisions, no. My poor parents, paying thousands of dollars for me to go to one of the best universities in the world…and sleep. Professional training? I am flattered! I mean, I write papers and stuff, sometimes put my experiences into the third person, but I've actually never written fiction until now.

**Melodiee: **I don't think Zuko would be so wussy if he hadn't been messed up by good ol' Fire Daddy Ozai, but he'd definitely be gentler and nicer, yeah. He's a little skittish right now because he's still getting his bearing on things, but as you can see, he won't take Sokka's crap any longer!

**Hazey247: **Yes, I am in college. I study English at UC Berkeley in California, one of the best places in the world. I highly advise anyone who will be thinking about college to consider Berkeley, because it's a magnificent school to be at, and I will ramble on and on about it to you, if you ask (right, Melodiee?).


	7. Chapter 7: The Epiphany

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender because if I did, the artists wouldn't have gotten so lazy for the second season._

**A/N, Pt. I: **I am aware that since I last updated, the new season has started and there are drastic changes in the lives of all of our favorite characters. I've been trying to make this story as canon as possible but alas, I suppose now it deviates from the show's timeline. Nonetheless, I am pouring all of my energies into the rest of the fic, so please readers, bear all this in mind. Onward!

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Epiphany**

The fire flickered in the light breeze, throwing shadows across the two figures standing over it, across from each other. The night was cool and clear, and from their vantage point on the summit of a mountain, the two could see what seemed like the entire world. Above, the stars glimmered and the moon was nearing its full quarter, illuminating the landscape in a pearlescent glow. The whiteness of the moon didn't seem to touch the pair, however. They were washed in the auburn red of the fire between them, as if they chose to turn their backs on the watery light of the moon and find redemption in another element instead. As if they had to.

Aang gazed through the flames to into the huge eyes of his animal guardian. Appa looked back steadily, refusing to waver. "Appa," Aang said in the barest whisper, "You know that you are my closest and oldest friend and I'm only doing what I'll be doing because we have to, right?"

_Unnnngh. _ Appa knew what his human meant. He was still a little scared.

Aang frowned. He knew exactly what his steed was thinking of. The two were not new to the purification ritual of the Air Nomads, although the only time they had been a part of it (as witnesses and not participants, thank Dalai) was over a century ago, only a few weeks after they had Bonded.

* * *

The transgressor was a former monk who had rebelled from the temples and left to live a life of crime. He was finally caught after killing a monk in a botched burglary of a shrine. As the Law decreed, those who harmed or took any sentient life were to be submitted to a purification ritual. The ritual would vary according to the nationality of the victim, and the man had killed an Air monk.

Aang watched the man hauled into the center courtyard of the Southern temple, bound to prevent escape. Someone read the charges, and one of the senior monks had stepped forward. He began to Bend, forming a massive sphere of wind in the courtyard. Before the defendant realized it, he was encased in a miniaturized tempest. Aang's eyes widened in horror as he stood on the sidelines watching the poor man being buffeted and pummeled by the howling gales within the invisible cage. The monks and other spectators began chanting as the storm continued, and the hand on Aang's shoulder suddenly gripped tightly. Aang looked up and saw Monk Gyatso, tears streaming from the old man's eyes and teeth clenched so that the words forming in the monk's throat could just barely slip out: _From the deep oceans, life is given. From the solid earth, life is given. From the roaring fire, life is given. From the high skies, life is given. A sin on one is a sin on all. Life is given. Life is holy. A sin on one is a sin on all._

Frightened by the scene before him and the hollow chanting of the people, Aang reached out and felt for comfort from the huge, furry ear next to him. Appa looked up and moaned softly, as clearly disturbed by the unfolding drama as Aang was. They stood together as the chanting escalated and white light shone from within the sphere of wind. With a loud boom, the sphere broke at the peak of the crowd's frenzied recital. The man that was inside lay on the cold flagstones, completely still. Silence fell as the presiding monk knelt and felt for a pulse. Slowly, the monk stood and in an awful, empty voice, announced, "He refused to honor life. He would not be purified."

* * *

As the memory ended, Aang reminded himself that the man had died because he had no respect for life; Appa was very different. Still, looking into the sad, trusting eyes of his friend, Aang could only remember the eternal void in the open eyes of the dead man, and he could still hear Monk Gyatso weeping quietly for his lost nephew.

* * *

"What's taking them?" Zuko demanded from his lookout post in the crown of the tree.

"Ahh, who knows," Sokka drawled lazily, "Aang's a mystery. A mystery wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce."

"What?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well don't you think we should at least be ready for when they get back? Maybe packed up, or at least with shirts on?" Zuko suggested, pointing at the blue tunic hanging from a lower branch.

"Hey," Sokka protested, "If _you_ want to stay all pasty-pale like that, good for you. Me, I gotta take advantage of this sunshine! The ladies love a tanned and toned body."

Zuko turned his eyes back up into the sky. "Since when did you know about what 'ladies love,' anyways," he called, "Seeing as how Katara told me the last one you met ran away crying and the one before that trounced you in hand-to-hand combat in about two seconds."

"She said _what_?"

Zuko laughed heartily as Sokka blushed, sputtered, and jumped off the wide branch he had been lying on, but stopped when Sokka began shaking the tree trunk so hard that the top of the tree swayed sickeningly. "Hey, cut that out!"

Sokka grinned crazily as he continued shaking down the stranded prince. He still disliked and distrusted Zuko, but rare moments like these made him wish he had a brother or a male friend closer to his age. Aang was a great friend, sure, but it got difficult to relate sometimes due to their age difference and the whole I'm-the-Avatar-and-I-Must-Save-The-World complex. Sokka hated to admit it, but Zuko was better company sometimes._ So long as he stays away from Katara._

High up in the tree, Zuko wasn't contemplating the joys of friendship and brotherly camaraderie. Hanging on to dear life and eyes fixed on the sky above, he muttered to himself, "Just don't look down. Don't look down."

"Sokka! What are you doing?" Katara's voice split the air.

Zuko's gaze instinctively snapped downwards to find her. He instantly regretted it. A wave of nausea crashed over him, and screwing up his eyes he let out a guttural roar. Fire spewed from his mouth and sluiced down his body and the entire tree, setting it ablaze.

Below, Sokka was defending his actions against his sister when the bark he was resting his hand against burst into flame. He looked up just in time to see more rushing madly towards him. "Wha-oh-oh-OHHHHH!"

The Water boy scrambled back from the burning tree and hit the ground, cowering. Startled but still possessing some sense, Katara quickly Bent a nearby bucket of water up the tree, but before she reached even halfway, the flames died down as quickly as they had arisen. She turned upwards, confused. "Hmm?"

Zuko felt better. He looked down – the entire tree was a charred mess. Gingerly, he began climbing down. He felt bad for burning such a big tree; it must have taken decades for it to grow that tall. He reached the bottom and sheepishly apologized, "Sorry. I got kinda sick."

The siblings gaped at him. "You…you get sick," ventured Katara, "And you throw up fire?"

"I guess, yeah."

"I am so glad I'm not from the Fire Nation," Sokka squeaked.

An awkward silence fell over the trio, and Katara shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Well uh, _unique_ gag responses aside, breakfast is ready. I caught some fish and we still have some of the berries that Momo and Sokka found. Will you help me with the fish, Sokka?"

Sokka gladly scooted to the campfire and the waiting food. "Weirdo," he mumbled under his breath.

Katara frowned and levitated a small handful of water, dumping it on her brother's head.

"HEY!"

She turned back to Zuko, who was looking up, down, to the sides – anywhere but directly at her. Katara smiled, despite the fluttering in her chest. _He's really rather cute, in an awkward way. _"Zuko, I was thinking," she began hesitantly.

Sokka's head whipped around to scowl at his sister's back, and then at Zuko, who noticed. The message was clear: _stay away from her._

The amnesiac Fire Prince wanted to smirk at the Water boy's obvious displeasure, but kept his face impassive. _Hey, she started talking to me first._

"…sometime?" Katara finished, in a rather meek voice.

Puzzled, Zuko asked, "What? Sorry, I didn't get that."

_Agh! It was hard enough asking the first time around, and he didn't listen? Men. _"I was thinking, that maybe you'd like to, um, that is, we, could ah, um…spar sometime?" Katara repeated.

"Oh." Zuko blushed lightly and scratched his head. He caught a glimpse of Sokka, behind Katara, who was shooting death glares at him. _Well, what can I do? It's not proper to refuse a lady._ "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that," he said, grinning at both Katara's offer and Sokka's unhappiness.

"Great! How about tonight, after Aang gets back?"

"Uh, yeah okay," Zuko muttered. _Aang. Aang, Aang, always Aang. _

Katara flashed him one last smile and went to join her brother cleaning and gutting fish. She felt light-headed and dizzy. _Did I just arrange a date with Zuko? Ohhh…what am I doing?_

"What are you DOING?" Sokka hissed as she reached his side. "You're spending time with _him_? You can't trust him! He'll do…things."

"Things?" Katara shot back. "He doesn't remember who we are, right? He's not going to hurt me. And what, just because I'm a _girl_ he'll be able to overpower me? Remember Suki? I thought you learned that lesson."

"Yes. But he's still dangerous. I don't trust him."

"Well thank you dear brother, but I can take care of myself. Besides, you and Aang will be there. Now come off it and let's fry these beauties."

Sokka opened his mouth to argue further but stopped when he heard a triumphant call from the sky.

"Hey guys! Katara! Sokka! Zuko."

"It's Aang and Appa!" Katara jumped to her feet.

Appa landed heavily and Katara let out a gasp at the sight of the Avatar and his steed. "What HAPPENED?"

The pair was covered in soot and Appa's lustrous coat was nearly gone, shorn off. Aang had a scrape on his cheek, but was smiling as if nothing had happened. The smell of burnt fur lingered on Aang's clothing. Katara got ready to heal him, but Aang waved her off. "Don't, it's supposed to be like this."

"What, bloody and burnt?" Sokka blurted.

"No, the ritual of purification and redemption requires that the participants let any injuries that happen heal naturally. It's our way of showing repentance."

"Oookay. So what, did you two roll around in a forest fire?" Sokka crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows.

"No, I Firebent."

Zuko, Katara, and Sokka simultaneously exclaimed, "WHAT?"

Aang rubbed his hand over his face and sighed, "Firebent."

Appa nosed Aang, who smiled at his friend's comfort. _Mmmwwg._

"How did you do it?" Katara asked excitedly.

"I don't know…I just did it. I mean, I had to, because the ritual has to reflect the person that Appa hurt, so I figured since it was Zuko, I should use fire. It was hard for a while because I didn't know how, not really, but I tried using what Jeong Jeong taught me and it got…kinda out of control."

"Wow, Aang, that's great! You can Firebend!" Katara exulted.

Aang returned her smile, but when he turned to the other two boys, his grin faltered and vanished. "What's wrong?"

Zuko said slowly, "You…can Firebend." He looked up and there was a tinge of anger in his eyes. "You are _expected_ to Firebend."

Katara whispered, "Uh oh."

Zuko continued, "You can bend water, air, and fire. I'm betting you can do earth too." With sudden force, he burst out, "You're the Avatar!"

Sokka shrieked and scurried under Appa's massive chin, cowering. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

Katara could feel Aang tense up beside her. _I knew this wouldn't last long._ "Now Zuko," she said calmly, holding her hands out but ready at any moment to attack.

Zuko advanced on her, a strange light glittering in his amber eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"Uhh well," Aang stammered, "I...I didn't know?"

Zuko whipped around and fixed Aang with a long stare. "Don't be stupid. You knew. And you," he glared at Sokka, "_Lied_ to me. You didn't tell me he was the Avatar! I knew it; I knew there was something special about you, Aang."

A flaming hand flashed out and gripped Katara tightly on the arm. She cried out in alarm and Sokka and Aang yelled in worry and fear, but she soon realized that Zuko wasn't hurting her. "Whoa, hey. It's not burning. How are you doing that?"

Zuko looked a little confused. "I don't know. I didn't get burned when I flamed up that tree or when I Firebend, so I guess I can control who I want to burn or not. And," he paused uncomfortably, "I don't want you burned."

Surprised, Katara looked up into his face. He didn't want to hurt her? He was angry, of course, but there was still no hostility. On the contrary, he seemed…excited. Exuberant, almost. "What," she said hesitantly, "_Do _you want, then?"

Zuko faltered. "I want, I want – "

FLASH!

"_The Avatar! Don't let him escape!"_

"_Get him! He's getting away!"_

_Big gray eyes looking solemnly into his own gold ones. "Do you think, if things had been different, we could have been friends?"_

Katara felt and saw Zuko slump and steadied him. He brought a trembling hand to his temple and grimaced. "I want the Avatar. I want you to tell me…the _truth_!"

Sokka emerged from his hiding spot, boomerang in hand, and snarled, "You have the truth! You can't have Aang though! And get away from Katara!"

Katara held up her hand and Sokka stopped his advance. She could still feel that Zuko wasn't an immediate danger. "The truth, Zuko?" she prodded gently, trying to lead him away from the topic of Aang.

"Yes, the truth. You definitely aren't who you say you are. And, I've met you before. I've been looking for you," Zuko studied Aang.

"Where did you meet him?" Katara led him on, although a tiny voice in the back of her mind was slightly cross that he hadn't remembered _her_.

"I don't know. But I've been looking for you. And look, I've found you! Do you know what this means?"

"Uhh, doom?" Aang guessed.

Zuko gave him a puzzled frown. "No! It means that the war could be over!"

Upon receiving three very blank looks, he continued, "Think about it: the war's been going on for so long."

"How do you know about the war?" Katara asked. "You don't remember your own life."

"I don't know. It's like I can remember general facts and history, but not my own. Unfortunately." A cloud crossed Zuko's face, but he continued on. "The war's been going on, and the only one who can stop it is the Avatar, right? I've probably been looking for you all this time to so something could be done about the war."

Sokka rolled his eyes. _Not quite, but that's okay. We're not dead yet, then._

"Now I've found you, and you can come with me and we can stop all the fighting!" Zuko finished happily.

"Um, okay," Katara said. "One second here. First of all, follow you where?"

Zuko's face fell. "Oh. Right. I don't know that one."

"And second of all," Katara continued, "He still doesn't have fire and earth mastered. How can he fix the war without those?"

"I hadn't thought of that."

The Water master smiled. "You had the right intentions. You're right, we didn't tell you everything." She shot a nasty look at her brother, who looked resolutely at a very interesting pine cone at his feet. "Aang is the Avatar, and we're trying to get to Omashu so he can learn Earthbending. You've been following us and have been, shall we say, very insistent on Aang coming with you."

Sokka muttered, "That's one way to put it."

"But he couldn't come with me, he hadn't finished mastering the other elements," Zuko said thoughtfully. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Katara grimaced. "We've always wondered that." She forced a smile on her face. "You must have finally pushed Appa over the edge, and he attacked you. We found you unconscious and didn't want you to keep on harassing Aang, so told you something different. We're sorry we lied."

Aang and Sokka looked at her in surprise at her fib. She refused to return their stares. "So now you realize how important it is for us to get to Omashu?"

"Yes."

"Will you help us?"

Zuko looked thoughtful. Something still seemed off, but the facts seemed much better this time around. He trusted Katara to be honest with him, anyways, although the idea that she might not be niggled annoyingly in his mind. He pushed it out of the way. _She wouldn't lie to me, right_? "I'd be happy to."

A relieved smile crossed Katara's face. She had just thwarted a crisis, although she felt terrible for lying to Zuko again. _At least it's not as bad or stupid as Sokka's._

Zuko dashed for the luggage, manic glee barely suppressed. The sooner Aang helped stop the war, the more lives could be saved! "Let's get going, then!"

Sokka came up next to his sister and the two watched the Fire Prince throw things into Appa's saddle with reckless abandon. "I can't believe you lied to him, after giving me all that grief earlier," Sokka said lowly to Katara.

"I don't want to talk about it." She turned away and began helping Zuko.

Aang stood with Appa, who whuffed and snuffled at the monk boy. "Hmm? Oh yeah. I guess he's a part of our group now. Can you accept that buddy?"

The bison snorted. He would accept it, but he didn't have to like it.

Aang sighed and rubbed Appa's nose. "I guess so, but this fixes a lot of things. Come on. Feel like flying today?"

* * *

**A/N, Part II: **Eee. Things are falling apart, things are falling apart! That, and Fire-barf. Heh. Well, it's another slightly slower chapter, but I have some better bits in store in the next few chapters, and things will start picking up, both plot and Zutara-wise. I hope I have time to get at least another post out by the end of the week, but we'll have to see. I can promise some fun OCs though.

I've been having random bouts of nausea. Let's hope I'm not dying.

For those of you with an LiveJournal account, check out the community baaaaabyanimals. It's featured on the LJ homepage, and it's just deathly cute. I think my heart is going to explode.


	8. Chapter 8: The Reunion

_Disclaimer: I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender, _because if I did, Zuko would bust out into mad tango. Hey, if Mr. Dante Basco could do it, so can our favorite Fire Prince.

* * *

_

**Chapter 8: The Reunion**

"Here we are guys! The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!"

"Aang. We know. We've been here." Sokka pointed out.

The monk boy sulked. "That doesn't mean I can't keep saying it," he pouted.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Okay well, whatever. Let's go inside and see King Bumi."

Aang perked up. "Yeah! Bumi! Oh boy. Hey Zuko, you're gonna get a kick out of him!"

Slumped in the saddle, looking languidly at the puffy white clouds drifting across the azure sky, Zuko drawled, "I am?"

"Sure! Everyone loves Bumi, isn't that right, guys?"

Sokka cleared his throat and looked awkwardly off into the distance while his sister pretended not to hear. As usual, Aang remained unfazed. "Yeah, they think he's cool too."

* * *

"General Iroh!" a trim, stiff-looking soldier ran up to the old man. "We found this."

Iroh stared dumbly at the tattered piece of cloth in his hands. It was Zuko's tunic, the one he had been wearing the day he was attacked by the Avatar's bison. The fabric was ripped where the bison's teeth had worn through and completely slit on one side with a sharp object – a knife or a dagger, Iroh thought weakly. There was dried blood in spots on the body of the shirt and in a large patch along the back of the neckline.

The entire camp held its breath as Iroh pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned audibly. "Sir?" the soldier offered.

Iroh looked up into the sky and waved the man off. Worry further deepened the creases in his weathered face – the General looked old, very old.

He focused back on the tunic in his hands, tracing the place where the knife had sliced cleanly through the cloth. "Prince Zuko is not dead."

The gathered assembly of men deflated in a collective sigh of relief.

"But he's not all right. This shirt was cut off of him, most likely to tend to some severe injury. He is wounded and lost, and possibly in the capture of hostiles."

"What…what should we do then, General?" one of the younger soldiers piped.

Iroh clenched the shredded shirt in his fist. "We continue searching. Detain and question anyone you come across. Any news is to be brought straight to me. Prince Zuko is bound to turn up sometime, somewhere."

The men began to disperse, saddling up their rhinos and packing away supplies for the day's search. Iroh remained where he was, staring at a patch of ground and worrying the tunic lightly in his hands. "Hang on, Prince Zuko," he said lowly, "I'm coming for you."

* * *

"BAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Eee-HEE-hee-hee!"

Aang, Katara, and Sokka gawped in complete bewilderment as Zuko slapped King Bumi on the back. Undaunted, the geriatric ruler gave Zuko a cuff that sent the young man sprawling, still guffawing, into the dirt.

"Oh…oh ho ho…heehee," Zuko gasped, wiping tears from his eyes. "That was good, that was good! 'Kangaroo Island…hoppin'…' heh heh!"

King Bumi beamed. He turned to Aang. "Where did you pick this one up, Aang? He's got such great taste!"

Aang forced a smile on his face. "Uh – "

" – Oh, oh! I've got a good one for you, King Bumi!" Zuko cut in.

Katara threw her hands up in disgust, but the Omashuian ruler couldn't have looked more delighted. "Go on!" he urged.

Zuko grinned and cleared his throat. "Okay, you ready for this? All right…what happens to kings when they get old and are ready to die?"

"I give up!" Bumi cackled.

"Trade really bad puns with an exiled Fire Prince, both of them being completely off their rockers?" Sokka whispered to Katara.

The said Prince, unaware of Sokka's derision, paused for dramatic effect and blurted, "Old kings don't die…they just get THRONE away!"

"PAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bumi exploded, rolling around the ground in his purple and chartreuse robes. His cap, adorned with ten gorgeous feathers from the colorful Budgie-chicken and one red, ripe tomato, lay on the throne, completely forgotten. The king was beside himself with mirth; not for the last half-century had anyone exchanged such witty and hilarious banter with him.

Katara coughed conspicuously, and said, "Sooo…if you two are done losing your minds for the moment, could we get to the issue at hand here?"

Chirruping in assent, Aang nodded vigorously. "I'm ready to learn Earthbending, Bumi, really!"

Still chortling, King Bumi wiped the tears from his eyes and sighed. "Ohh yes. Yes. Yes! All right! Earthbending! Good! We'll start first thing tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Aang asked, crestfallen. "But we could start this afternoon!"

"No, no," King Bumi replied, waving his hand dismissively. "Then we'd have no time at all!"

"What do you mean?"

"We can't start this afternoon! How would we squeeze in the lesson, between having you kids settle in, showing you the newly-refurbished southeastern mail chutes, and introducing this fine young gentleman here to Flopsie!"

Katara gaped incredulously at the crazy old man. "You…you still have Flopsie?"

"Oh my, yes," Bumi said, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "He's still around, and doing great! I found him a girlfriend! They're in loooooove," he cooed.

Sokka groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead, but Zuko's face lit up with excitement. "You have pets, King Bumi?"

"Oh yes. Flopsie and Mopsie – that's his honey bunny, heehee! – are the cutest, cuddliest, smooshiemoomoomoo, bloobloopoo darlings ever! In fact, it should be time for their walk soon. Why don't you accompany me to the hutch while your friends get settled in, hmm?"

"All right! I've never had any pets of my own," Zuko gushed. "At least, none that I can remember."

The two began walking down one of the many long, green, glowing corridors in the palace, leaving the Avatar and the Water siblings behind. A servingman, clad in green and tan, swept them towards another wing of the palace. "This way, sirs and lady," he droned, "Your rooms are prepared for your stay."

Ushered by the persistent hands of the servingman, Katara craned her head back as far as it would go to catch one last glimpse of Zuko and King Bumi disappearing down the length of the hallway, laughing uproariously at some hideous new pun that one of them had come up with.

* * *

The next morning, as everyone was heartily tucking into a breakfast of fresh fruits, pastries, and porridges, King Bumi suggested that Aang start his lessons in the courtyard. "You three are welcome to come watch," he invited.

"That sounds great!" Katara exclaimed. "Sokka?"

Her brother, cheeks stuffed with food, sputtered. "Mmmf…sluuup…what? Oh yeah, sure. Man, is this food great or what?"

Momo hopped up next to him and chirped at the bowls of glistening fruit. In a comradely gesture, Sokka embraced the lemur with one arm, pressing his face against Momo's cheeks. "Momooooo! Look at all this food! Isn't it great? For once we won't have to fight over anything! Mmm, this is tasty."

The lemur squawked in protest, wriggled out of Sokka's tenacious grip, and planted himself firmly in front of a brimming bowl of succulent grapes. With great gusto, Momo gulped down the contents of the entire vessel.

"So that leaves you, my dear Zuko," Bumi said, looking keenly in the young man's direction.

Zuko grinned. He loved this old man! For some reason, it just felt right to have an elderly, eccentric, father figure in his life. "That's a tempting offer, but I've got a case of restless legs. I think I'd like to explore Omashu a little."

Sokka looked wary. Leaving the amnesiac Fire Prince to wander around one of the Earth Kingdom's last standing strongholds was not a smashing idea. "You might get lost. Why don't I go with you?"

"No thanks, I've been listening to you whine all day long for the past two weeks. I need a break."

Undaunted, Sokka persisted. "Well, it'd still be a better idea if you have a guide. King Bumi, is there anyone who can show Zuko around?"

"Oh relax, Sokka," King Bumi said. "He's a fine, strong young man. He's perfectly competent and capable of taking care of himself, which is really more than what we can say for you!"

"Buh, nuh? No! I'm competent! I am!" Sokka spluttered.

"Yeah. Who was it that nearly got his leg taken off by the Crocogator a couple of days ago? 'Aw come on guys, he's harmless! Look how cute he is! I'm gonna pet him!'" Zuko taunted.

"Hey! I didn't know it was actually ten feet long! I could only see its head! And it _was_ cute!" Sokka protested, before adding under his breath, "Before it tried to eat me…"

"Well, it's settled then," Aang interjected, anxious to start learning. "We'll go learn Earthbending and Zuko will go explore. We'll all be back for lunch. Okay, let's go!"

As the group rose from the table and started outside, King Bumi approached Zuko and clasped him on the shoulder. "If you have time, go visit the menagerie," he advised. "Sometimes they'll get animals unsuitable for public display and give them away for free! That's where I found Flopsie!"

Zuko's eyes glittered. "Will do, King Bumi. _Will do._"

"Atta boy!" Bumi clapped Zuko on the shoulder and moved off.

While King Bumi led the youths through the labyrinthine corridors of the palace, Katara sidled up to Zuko. "What are you going to do on your morning off?" she asked.

Surprised but pleased by her initiative, Zuko replied, "I dunno…walk around, take in the sights. I guess until Aang gets his Earthbending down, we won't be leaving for a while, so it'd be nice to get to know the area. And who knows? Maybe I'll be able to find people to help us fight against the Fire Lord in the war."

"Uhh, don't…don't do that," Katara exclaimed hastily. "Um, we need to keep Aang's stay here a secret, okay? And we can't go stirring up trouble…people might react badly to you approaching them about the war."

Zuko scowled. "It's the scar, isn't it?"

"No, no! It's…not that," Katara fumbled, trying not to hurt his feelings and yet wanting to ensure no poor Omashu citizen would be accosted by an overeager Fire Prince. "You just – "

" – You're freaky, that's what," Sokka supplied, from behind them.

Katara shot her brother a dirty look over her shoulder. "Please, just promise me you won't go bothering people."

"Fine. I'll just stay by my freaky little self," Zuko said dully.

"Good." Katara flashed him a sudden smile. "Because otherwise I'd have to thrash you during our workouts…again."

"Oh come on! One time! And the sun was going down, too!" Zuko protested, picking up on her mocking, playful tone. "You watch out when we fight again this evening. This one won't end in a tie!"

"Ha! Right, because _I'm_ going to win!"

"You're delusional."

The pretty Water master gave Zuko one last heart-melting smile before picking up her pace to join Aang. Zuko watched her go with mixed emotions. Ever since the night Sokka had his mad rant about staying away from Katara, he had retaliated by becoming painfully platonic with her. Of course, she still sent electricity through his veins with every touch, accidental or not, and their daily sparring sessions always left him breathless, partly from the exercise but mostly from the sheer rush of her presence and attention. Still, she had warmed up to him and the two happily spent time together, discussing everything from differences in bending style to Sokka's tendency to split his pants down the backseat.

Zuko still ached to be close to her, to touch her as intimately as he had that day by the pool in the forest. He wished he could get to know her, not just as a traveling companion and workout partner, but as a friend and lover. The only upside to keeping his feelings in check was the infuriating effect it had on her brother: Sokka couldn't do anything so long as Zuko remained neutral, a position that Sokka found irritating.

Outside the palace, Zuko broke off from the group and headed in the opposite direction. The city was already up and bustling, even this early in the morning, and the cool, crisp air a welcome respite from the stuffiness of the palace. With clean clothes and a washed face, Zuko felt as fresh and spotless as the beautiful day awakening before him. Zuko grinned. An entire morning to himself, to explore, browse, eat, or do whatever the hell he wanted: it was bliss.

King Bumi had given him explicit directions and Zuko eventually found himself in front of the royal menagerie. Squawks, hoots, honks, and other exciting noises split the air. Eager to see the exotic collections of animals, Zuko headed for the large, iron-wrought gates. He wondered if Katara would like it if he gave her a cute pet as a gift.

"Ey you! Whereduyyah tink _yer_ goin'?" A gruff, burly man stepped in front of Zuko.

Affronted, Zuko drew himself up. "To the menagerie," he replied haughtily.

"Well, iss closed now. Won' be open fer another two hours." The man moved closer to Zuko, whose nose caught an extensive whiff of ripe, unwashed human.

Zuko hastily backpedaled a few steps to escape the horrid reek but remained adamant. "I am here to see the menagerie. I am a guest of King Bumi, and I demand that you let me in at once!"

"Oh-HO!" the man chortled, revealing a few yellowing, crusty teeth. "Ain't we self-righteous today! Well lemme tell ya, Mister High-an'-Mighty, guest or no guest, th' menagerie's CLOSED. As in, not open. So ya just better scamper back to wherever the hell ya came from, got it?"

"Listen, you filthy, smelly moron! I want to see the animals! You are disobeying the wishes of the king, and if you don't let me in _right this second_, I'll see that you pay dearly for this!" Zuko erupted, smoke curling out from his nostrils and between his clenched jaw.

"Huh?" The man took a hasty step back. "Yer Fire Nation scum! Oi! There's Fire trash here! Ey! Git'im!"

Zuko looked around, bewildered, as five other hulking beasts of men appeared around him, forming a ring. They advanced slowly and cautiously, but determination to catch the Firebender was written clearly across their faces. Zuko thought he might be able to take them down, but realized that, smelly and boneheaded or not, the men were still civilians under King Bumi's employ and it wouldn't do to insult his friend and host by blasting his subjects into crisps.

With sudden clarity of mind, Zuko bolted, just as the ring of men closed in. He wriggled through a gap between two particularly meaty menagerie workers and dashed away.

"HEY! He's gittin' away!"

Roars and heavy footfalls chased Zuko as he tore through the narrow alleyways of the main bazaar. Vendors and shoppers alike shrieked and scrambled out of the way as first fleeing Fire Prince and then several large and angry men barreled through the marketplace. Soon, others began taking up the menagerie guards' shouts and some joined in on the chase.

"Fire scum!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"Fire Nation filth!"

"You'll never take Omashu!"

"OHDEARGODHELPUSWE'REGONNADIE!"

Panting, Zuko chanced a glance up to gauge how far he was from the sanctuary of Bumi's palace. Everything looked foreign and unfamiliar, and he couldn't find the distinctive emerald cupola of the palace. _Oh great_. _I'm lost._

A searing pain began stabbing Zuko in the ribs. Although well on the mend, he still wasn't healthy enough to go sprinting around dusty alleyways, dodging occasional blows and leaping over mail chutes. To his dismay, Zuko felt his exhausted legs tremble and slow, and the loud yells drew closer. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

"C'mon, he's getting tired! Git'im!"

In desperation, Zuko flung a hand backwards as he ran and threw a few flames at his pursuers. Yelps and shouts told him that the fire had bought him a few precious seconds' lead, but it wasn't good enough. Suddenly, a figure detached from the crowd behind Zuko and leapt lightly onto a passing mail cart going down one of the ubiquitous mail slides. The speed of the stone cart brought the figure, cloaked in drab brown, closer to Zuko, who saw the movement from the corner of his eye.

"When you turn that bend over there, the track will be level with the street. Reach out your left hand as soon as you come around!" the mystery person yelled, barely audible above the noise of the mob and the speeding mail cart.

Zuko let out a strangled noise in affirmation. To anyone watching, it would just seem like some devoted pursuer was keen on using the cart's speed to grab the offending Fire intruder.

The corner neared, and both Zuko and the cloaked figure tore around it. As promised, the mail track dipped down briefly to meet the street and Zuko threw his hand out. His unknown benefactor gripped Zuko firmly and hauled him bodily into the cart, where he slammed against one stone side and slumped on the bottom of the cart, gasping for air.

The mail chute picked up speed once again on its perpetual downward course, and soon the angry yells of the marketplace mob was lost in the distance.

* * *

While Zuko fled his pursuers, Aang was having a much less successful time learning Earthbending. The pebble simply would not budge. 

"I don't get it!" Aang complained, pounding the ground with his fists. "I can't get it to move!"

"Now Aang," King Bumi soothed, infinitely patient, "Earthbending isn't about instantaneous results. It's about feeling the solidness of the soil, the calm steadiness of silent rock. Get rid of your emotions. Become neutral, become quiet and still like the earth. Feel the serenity."

"Okay, okay," Aang muttered, and took a deep breath. "Serenity. Serenity. Calm. Silent rock."

A little ways off, Katara and Sokka sprawled lazily on the green grass, basking in the sun. Katara yawned. "How long do you think this will take? Aang had no trouble doing the basic Water moves. He even Firebent without help."

Sokka rolled over and cast one sleepy eye at his Avatar friend. "I dunno. Earthbending seems too…calm…for him. He'll never get it."

Katara sat up and stretched. "Well, I'm beginning to wish I'd gone with Zuko. At least I'd be able to _do_ something."

Even this most innocent of comments was enough to launch Sokka into a frenzy. "Zuko? No, not Zuko. You don't like Zuko. You don't want to do things with Zuko!"

Katara cocked one eyebrow and gave her brother a searching glance. "Do things?" she mocked. "_Do things_."

"Well, yeah! Things!"

The Waterbender stood up and brushed the dust off of the seat of her pants. "Right. Things. Any _thing_ would really be better than sitting here watching Aang have a near hernia over that pebble. I'm going to go find Zuko. And then we'll _do things_. Exciting, heartstopping, thrilling _things_."

"AGH! Wait!" her brother blubbered, reaching frantically to catch the edge of Katara's tunic. "I'll come with you! You never know…when you'll need…things…from me."

As rapidly as a crashing wave, Katara whipped around and stabbed one accusing finger at Sokka's face. "I'm not stupid!" she yelled, suddenly incensed.

Aang and Bumi paused in their lesson and looked curiously at the siblings.

"You think you know everything!" Katara continued. "You think you know every detail of Zuko's _devious_ plots to capture us all! You think you can come up with all these clever lies that'll keep him from realizing the truth! You think you know how he feels about us – about me!"

"I, uh…" Sokka protested feebly.

"Well you know what, Sokka?" his sister persisted. "You've got it all wrong. You keep thinking that Zuko's going to sell us out to the Fire Nation – Sokka, he doesn't even know who he is! And our lies are going to fall apart in our face! We were so wrong to do it in the first place, and now we just have to keep going, pretending things that don't make any sense! He's going to figure it out!

And you need to stop freaking out over every little thing I do! Zuko and I are _friends_. He won't hurt me, and you've seen us spar. You know I'm good enough to protect myself, but you just won't let that go, will you?"

"Katara, he's dangerous!" Sokka argued, getting to his feet.

"Please. You've been with us for the past couple of weeks. He could've captured or killed us at any time, but he's been nothing but nice and sweet and fun to talk to, and I hate…I hate lying to him and using him!"

Just as quickly as her anger had welled up, Katara deflated. "I'm sick and tired of manipulating him. It's been suffocating me this whole time. He deserves to know the truth."

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

"He's going to kill you! He's going to kill us!"

"He won't. Sokka, you can be so thick sometimes…you "know" all of the evil plans he's hatching in his head but you can't even see the plain fact that he likes us. Likes all of us. He won't turn on us! He can't."

With that, Katara turned on her heel and ran out of the courtyard. Sokka started after her, but a gnarled hand on his shoulder held him back and he turned. "Don't," King Bumi said quietly, knowingly. "It'll just keep eating away at her. I'm surprised she lasted that long, really."

Sokka looked back at the retreating figure of his sister, braid flapping as she fled. He sighed and sat down. She was right. He hated to admit it, tried to deny it and bury it as if it had never happened, but she was right about everything. And now he was miserable.

He kicked a rock which accidentally flew at Aang, who had been watching silently from the sidelines. The Avatar held up a hand to deflect the stone and instead of hitting him, it shot straight up in the air and disappeared.

"Hey!" Aang exclaimed in surprise.

Bumi's delighted cackle rang through the courtyard. "Heeheehee! Very good, young Aang!"

* * *

It seemed like he was going to fall forever.

The mail cart zoomed effortlessly down the endless track, the sound of stone scraping stone a painful rasp that felt like it was going to bruise the eardrums. The wind whistled crazily as Omashu whipped by.

"So uh, when do you think we'll stop?" Zuko yelled conversationally over the noise of the chute and wind.

The figure, who had not spoken since he had called to Zuko in the marketplace, remained silent. "All right, then," Zuko consoled himself, and settled back against the cold granite to wait.

A few more minutes passed, silent save for the ever-present scraping. Zuko gritted his teeth. He was getting impatient and the noise was going to drive him insane.

The cart careened wildly around a turn and the mystery man suddenly grabbed Zuko by the arm and brought him close so he could hear over the noise. "We're coming to the end of the track," he shouted. "See that flat area with the red markings, below that big tube?"

Zuko squinted and nodded.

"When we get there, on my mark, jump out and run like hell for that yellowish building. Earth Kingdom soldiers will be getting ready to move the cart back up, through the tube. Make sure you're out by then, or else you're getting a bumpy ride back to the top."

"Uh…okay," Zuko stammered.

"Good. Oh, and don't get caught. I'm not risking my butt for you again."

The steep descent gradually petered out, flattening slowly until it was almost level horizontally. Red flags signaled the upcoming transfer station. Zuko could see what looked like perfect miniatures of Earth Kingdom soldiers, little figurines that steadily grew until they were nearing life-size. The soldiers had yet to notice the two stowaways crouched in the approaching mail cart.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, this is where we get off!" came from somewhere within the folds of the brown cloak.

The cart lurched to a jarring halt, and Zuko barely had time to register three puzzled faces above him when he received a hard shove. "GO!"

He bolted out of the cart, rolling awkwardly on the ground before regaining his feet. His companion had leapt out smoothly, slipping deftly through the stunned soldiers. Zuko caught a flash of movement darting towards cover and followed suit.

"What the – "

Zuko's legs, recovered from the earlier chase, pounded the dusty street as he ran. Fortunately, the soldiers had to keep to their schedule and shrugged the incident off as two idiots who went joyriding through the mail system. They turned back to their work and sent the cart back up through the tube.

Zuko reached the building but didn't see his companion anywhere. Suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed Zuko stoutly by the front of his tunic and yanked him unceremoniously through a doorway. Zuko let out a squeak of surprise and immediately orange flames spurted from his fists.

"Whoa there," a voice said. The door slammed and a lock clicked.

He was in a stuffy, cramped little room. The windows were boarded up messily and there was a desolate look about the place. The smell of abandonment, of loneliness and desperation, hung in the air.

Standing in front of Zuko, steadying him with strong callused hands, was a young man with dark brown eyes peering out from behind a messy mop of black hair. Stubble coated his jaw, giving him a roguish air, and a thin white scar decorating his right temple contributed well to the rakish appearance. He looked as if he could be Zuko's age, perhaps a bit older – all in all, a rather handsome package. The young man was dressed in the same rough material as Zuko's rescuer but had an easy grin that seemed incongruous with the curt remarks during the ride down.

Disoriented and still hesitant, Zuko shook off the teen's grip and backed up. "What's going on?" he demanded. "Where am I?"

The young man threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, you haven't changed one bit," he chuckled. "Still as imperious as you were then. Well, to answer your question, we're home. My home, at least. You seem to be a tad on the far side from yours."

It took Zuko a few extra seconds to understand what the young man had said. He peered cautiously at him, confused and curious. "Have we met?" he asked.

Hurt seeped into coffee-colored eyes. "You don't remember me?"

"Ah, no."

"He doesn't remember me!" the young man repeated incredulously. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them again, and grabbed Zuko's arm. "You're telling me…you don't remember me?"

"I don't remember you." Zuko wondered how long it was going to take for him to understand.

"Unbelievable. I mean, I think maybe it's understandable, seeing as how it's been, what, ten years, but really! You don't remember me?"

"No."

"Oh, I am so _hurt_!" he cried, reeling back and clutching his chest. "Zuko, my bestest best friend of all bestness, doesn't have any memory of his bestest best friend of all bestness, me!"

"Maybe we could start by having you tell me who you are?" Zuko suggested. He wasn't all too surprised that the stranger knew his name; after all, this seemed to be a nutty world where everyone knew who he was, except himself.

"It's MEEEE!" the odd boy exclaimed, lurching forward once more and grabbing Zuko's arm. "Me! Your old buddy, old pal, Selu!"

Zuko responded by staring blankly at the young man, whose crazily grinning face was uncomfortably close to his.

Selu let out a noise of disbelief. "He still doesn't remember!"

"Of course he doesn't, you moron." A low, smooth voice came from the side.

Zuko, who had been slowly prying Selu off, finger by finger, from his arm, stopped to stare at the source of the voice. He had been so thrown by the bizarre exchange with Selu that he hadn't even noticed the slender figure leaning casually against the wall.

The figure detached itself from the shadows and flowed, liquid-like, into the dim light filtering in between the cracks of the boarded windows. A girl with piercing jet-black eyes and high, haughty cheekbones emerged into view. Her hair, as dark as her eyes and as silky as her voice, was pulled back in a high bun. She was tall, standing well over Selu, whose head came to Zuko's ear. A wry smile crossed her full lips. "Remember _me_?"

Zuko, all thoughts of dislodging the intruder on his arm forgotten, nearly went cross-eyed at the vision of beauty before him. Her almond-shaped eyes flashed in amusement. Clearly she was used to this type of response from males. "Guess not."

Something in her voice shook Zuko back to his senses; warning bells went off in the farthest depths of his gut. The feeling alerted him enough to lick his dry lips and mutter, "I think I would."

"Oh good," Selu said happily, "It's not just me. He doesn't remember who you are either."

The girl came closer and as she did, the hairs on the back of Zuko's neck prickled. He was already beginning to dislike her, and he didn't even know her name. Caution now presided in his instincts, strengthening him like armor against her potent beauty. He could see now that while the girl was ragingly lovely, her features were chiseled and cold, nothing like Katara's warm and honest openness.

"Sami's the name, and rescuing old childhood friends is my game," she purred, holding out a delicate hand, smooth and unmarred unlike Selu's.

Zuko took her hand and clasped it just long enough to be polite. "Hello."

An awkward silence hung in the air. Zuko kicked at the ground while Sami continued drilling into him with her acute gaze, intently studying his every detail. Selu muttered some more and his left eye twitched spasmodically. "Uhh so," Zuko began, "It's very nice to meet you two…again? I suppose you are the ones responsible for saving me from that mob?"

"Mhm!" Selu affirmed cheerily.

Zuko turned to him and inclined his head respectfully. "Thank you. I was lost…I don't know how I would've gotten out of that mess."

Sami scoffed. "Him? He couldn't fight his way out of a burlap sack. He saw you, but _I _saved you. I believe your thanks goes to _me_."

Zuko looked at her, surprised. "I'm sorry. Thank you, then," he said softly.

The girl tossed her head back and grinned wickedly. "Of course. Anything for a friend."

"Friend! Yes! Ha! That's who we are!" Selu burst out. "So do you remember us _now_?"

Disdainfully, Sami reached over and roughly pulled Selu off of Zuko, who sighed in relief at the restoration of blood flow. "Excuse my addle-brained brother here," she said acidly. "He hasn't been the same since the accident."

Seemingly unaffected by his sister's biting tone, Selu whispered conspiratorially to Zuko, "A few weeks after we got to Omashu, some kids found out we were from the Fire Nation and threw rocks at us. Sami got away, but a big one caught me on the side of the head – POW! We moved here and have been staying here ever since. Man, you should've seen the size of those rocks! They were…ha ha! Flying rocks…"

Zuko looked pityingly at the young man. It was one thing to have amnesia, but to be considered crazy and to be conscious of it…Zuko almost felt lucky.

"Confused much?" Sami drawled. "Let's sit down and talk. It's been a while."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry to leave y'all hanging. I BET YOU'RE ALL DYING TO KNOW MORE! Twitch, twitch.

I enjoyed writing this because it's actually relevant to the storyline. When I went back and reread some of the previous chapters, I concluded that some it was really unnecessary and I probably went crazy at some point to write it. But not anymore! Fwahaha.

A cut scene:

Bumi: "Okay, okay. I've got one, Zu."  
Zuko: "Yeah? Let's hear it!"  
Bumi: "All right. Okay. Okay. One night, cos, sin, and tan were sitting around a campfire, while ex was by himself off to the side. Someone asked him why he wasn't with the others, and he said, 'I tried to integrate myself, but nothing happened!'"  
Zuko: "FWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Nothing happened! Hahaha! Ohh! Ohh! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"  
Aang, Katara, Sokka: Um.

Yes. In other news, I've got a combination of mono and end-of-the-semester papers, so…yeah. Don't hold your breath. You'll turn blue.

This chapter is part of a multiple-component birthday gift for my precious sister, who is growing up way too fast. Happy birthday, my sibling. May Ranger magically appear at your side.


End file.
